


The Ultimate Prize

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, God Tier, Multi, Post-Sburb/Sgrub, Post-Sgrub, in fact its probably gonna be pretty miserable all the way through, sadstuck in decent quantities, warning - this fic does not start off happily
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-10
Updated: 2014-02-17
Packaged: 2017-12-04 21:25:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 20,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/715262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It takes a special kind of foolish pride for a group of humans to consider themselves greater than the Gods."</p><p>"It takes a special kind of stubborn stupidity to think that they can be enslaved."</p><p>***</p><p>The trolls win the game, and enter their new universe, only to find that someone had predicted their arrival...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Your name is....

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic as well as my first attempt at any sort of fiction story in general.  
> Constructive criticism is appreciated, as well as any sort of feedback in general.
> 
> Dear GOD I procrastinated so much from the time I first had the bright idea to write any sort of fic.
> 
> I have taken fairly heavy inspiration from To Secure, Contain, And Protect by TheSpaceCoyote.
> 
> I hope you enjoy : )

Your name is Feferi Peixes and you want to die.

This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

You cant take any more.

Please

Someone

Make it end.

***

Your name is Karkat Vantas and you blame yourself.

You were their fucking leader after all so naturally it's your fault when everything goes to shit. If you had just acted differently then maybe your lives wouldn't be the hell that they are.

Even if you don't actually know what you could have done differently, its still your fault.

They'd known. Those fuckers KNEW exactly where you would enter the universe from the game, they KNEW that three of your best fighters would be useless at that moment, they FUCKING KNEW who were the strong ones that they needed to take out first.

They even knew about the ultimate prize. Which even you did not know the extent of at that time.

You couldn't protect anyone.

You are such a useless leader.

You are such a pathetic friend.

***

Your name is Terezi Pyrope and you are losing your mind.

You can hear their thoughts. You can hear the thoughts of everyone in the world, and it is driving you mad.

On that day, when the game had been completed, you collapsed. You couldn't deal with the sudden bombardment of the thoughts of so many people. So you shut down and the humans were easily able to capture you.

For a few days they left you alone. You had time to gather your thoughts, and gain some level of control over your new power. Given time you would have been able to hear the thoughts of everyone on the planet without so much as a slight headache.  
They didn't give you time.

They connected you to a machine that limited control of your powers without preventing the flow of thought into you, and you could sense that they intended to use you to monitor the thoughts of an entire planet. Your mind might have already melted from this constant barrage of thoughts if it weren't for one small piece of deceit on your end.

They think that you cant detect the minds of your companions, that their minds are somehow shielded from you. Protected by their godhood.

So there is a chance.

A sliver of hope.

And you are far too stubborn to waste it by going mad.

***

Your name is Sollux Captor and you are scared of death.

Both of your own death and the death you create.

You never really gave your title of mage of doom much thought when you were in the game. You didn't need it or the powers it was supposed to give you, so you just carried on by just making things explode with your mind (it was an effective strategy).

When you got out of the game obviously things changed. AA was back, things could go back to normal between you and her, you finally could stop feeling shit about what you were forced to do to her. You were happy, you went to hold her.

And then she died again.

Up to that point you had no idea that the power that the game had given, if uncontrolled, would cause death with only a touch. Nor did you know that she would come back given time. So you panicked, thinking that you had killed her again, and knowing that this time it was exclusively your fault. The humans didn't have much trouble with you then.

They didn't find much use for your power but they did find a use for your mind. They set you to work building every bit of tech that you could remember from your home planet. Sometimes you refuse, and then they punish you until you cooperate.

You want it to end. 

But you know what death feels like.

And you're scared.

***

Your name is Aradia Megido and you are so lonely.

How long has it been since you had contact with another living thing? Years? Decades? Maybe longer, you don't know. You cant really remember much after you left the game.

You were alive, you saw Sollux, he saw you, you were together, you were happy for the first time in so long.

And then there was nothing.

You woke up in absolute darkness.

A small room made of metal, sealed shut in order to prevent air or light in. You panicked about this until you realised you didn't need to breathe, or even eat.

The game had given you your life, a universe, and the powers to control it, all being part of the ultimate prize that it had promised. Once you figured this out you felt hopeful, but there was no point of reference with which to measure time. In this dark room you cant know how far back or forward in time you have travelled. There is never any change or variation. The door never opens, the lights never come on.  
You are always alone.

No, that's not entirely true, there was one time that the monotony of your imprisonment was broken, but that is a time that you never wish to revisit again.

So you are forced to wait in this dark room, hoping that someday you will be saved.

And hoping that everything that makes you you will survive till then.

***

Your name is Equius Zahhak and you no longer feel anything.

You just complete he orders that they give you.

There is nothing else.

They wont allow you anything else.

***

Your name is Nepeta Leijon and you are so sorry.

He wouldn't work for them, he kept on trying to protect you. So they hurt him, and they made you watch while they did it. You couldn't just stand there and let them carry on hurting him.

So you stole it.

You stole his pain, his fear, his anger. You stole everything so he wouldn't have to feel what they were doing to him.

And that was exactly what they wanted.

Now they wont let you see him anymore. They keep you locked away and alone.  
You miss the outdoors, you miss your friends, you miss your lusus.

And most of all you miss your moirail.

You want to see him again so you can fix him, so you can make him better again. But you cant because they wont let you.

And you don't think they ever will.

***

Your name is Tavros Nitram and you have it easy.

They never ask that much of you, "Send rain clouds over to water crops in Africa", "Stop the hurricane headed for Florida", "Purify the industrial emissions emanating from London". You can do it all easily.

They also give you things if you behave well. Tasty food, playing cards, some sort of human version of fiduspawn. You just need to be polite, do what they say, and don't ask questions.

You wish they would let you outside more, other than when they want you to do something, as you think that going God tier made you claustrophobic. Also you miss your friends. You haven't seen them since the end of the game.

You tried to complain. You tried to fight them (that's what Rufio would do if someone took his friends away, at least you think so). But then they showed you what the collar was for.

It hurt.

It hurts.

Everything hurts.

You don't fight back anymore.

***

Your name is Eridan Ampora and you miss your friends.

The humans didn't need your powers for very long.

You didn't need that long to wipe out any large scale opposition the humans that controlled you had. Your title was the most active of the trolls, and the most destructive when combined with your aspect. You wish that you could turn the bolts of white light that you create back on your oppressors, but as long as they hold your matesprit hostage you cant do anything to them (she hasn't agreed to any real relationship yet but you would like to think that that is still kind of irrelevant to the whole protecting her thing).

For a while they left you alone, until they found that you had extensive knowledge of Alternian military tactics, particularly those employed when fighting off-planet, and they gave you a job training commanders in the art of war. You will admit that, despite the restrictions put upon you, you enjoyed that job for a while (after all, it had been your grubhood ambition to do something like this).

You saw Sollux when you were sent to review one of the new spacecraft. He was working on some sort of computing system in a sealed room. He looked different. He looked broken.

You saw Equius next. You don't think he even saw you when you tried to speak to him.

As for Gamzee...

He was not the same sopor addict that you once had to tolerate.

Seeing your friends like this, all changed or broken, is painful.

You wish that things could go back to the way they were before.

You wish that you could get your real friends back.

***

Your name is Kanaya Maryam and you are so tired.

When it became clear that you had already lost you simply stopped resisting. In different circumstances perhaps you would have continued fighting, futile though it may be, but you had a task of greater importance to complete that would have only have been harmed by that particular course of action.

You negotiated with the humans. You would give in fully to their demands, and in exchange they would aid in the revival of your race through the matriorb. At the time you thought nothing of such an agreement. Why would you? In your mind the revival of your race had always taken priority over your own desires.

They were true to their word you will give them that. Through care and the use of through use of exobiology equipment, which, although they claimed otherwise, you suspect was constructed by Sollux. But then of course came time for them to collect your fee.

Your powers of space were more than a little useful to them. With little more than a thought you can move objects vast distances at a speed that surpassed even the strongest yellowblood's capabilities.

It was easy at first, but over time their requests became more demanding. You cannot be certain but you are starting to suspect that you are behind the logistics of the entire planet, and it is destroying you.

But you fear the day when you finally collapse, when you can do no more. Because they have made it clear that they will not tolerate failure to comply with their demands, as well as what they will do in retaliation.

You don't want to be responsible for the destruction of your people a second time.

***

Your name is Gamzee Makara and life is a motherfucking miracle.

THESE MOTHERFUCKING HUMANS

they give you everything you ever need.

YOU WANT FOOD?

here are the finest delicacies a motherfucker can ever ask for.

YOU WANT BLOOD?

here are some blasphemers that need some righteous judgement brought upon them.

YOU WANT MIRICLES?

we have them right here.

WE HAVE THEM IN SMOKE AND PILLS AND POWDER AND IN ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT

but there is one thing they don't give you

ONE THING THAT YOU MOTHERFUCKING NEED

and that is

YOUR BEST MOTHERFUCKING FRIEND

and when they told you this

YOU LAY DOWN YOUR FURY UPON THEM

you killed so many blasphemous motherfuckers that day

BUT THESE MOTHERFUCKERS HAD SOME TRICKS UP THEIR SLEEVE

they stopped you

AND THEY FILLED YOUR LIFE WITH PAIN AND BLASPHEMY

so now you're getting ready for something else

YOU SHUN THEIR FAKE MIRACLES

and you wait until its time

TIME TO START THE MOTHERFUCKING DARK CARNIVAL

honk

HONK

 

***

Your name is Vriska Serket and you are sick of this.

You aren't some kind of submissive weakling that these humans can push around.

You _will_ escape.

And you _will_ make them pay.

You will make them all pay.

***


	2. Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A soldier is briefed on the nature of his latest assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the fact that this chapter mostly consists of dialogue between two non-canon characters.
> 
> However I can assure you that neither of them will have too much relevance to the overall plot so please don't get to thinking that this fic is going to be a clusterf*ck of OCs.
> 
> (putting the rest of the notes down at the bottom of the page)

CLICK!

click!

CLICK!

click!

If not for the relentless clicking, caused by a lone soldier fiddling relentlessly with his fathers pocket watch, the break room of the Diamond institute of Medicinal and biological research would have been completely silent.

The soldier no longer bothered paying the unnatural silence of the room any attention. After all, he had been waiting there for over an hour at this point (a momentary glance at the clock face revealed the time to be five thirty four, he had been sitting in the room for sixty seven minutes), and had long since figured out that the room had been soundproofed to allow the more sleep-deprived scientists the chance for a quick nap during their lunch break.

Being stuck in the same room for an hour waiting for a long overdue briefing does tend to result in you running out of subjects to think about.

As he started to make his seventh trip across the room to the coffee machine the door finally swung open, as a tall man in a lab coat stepped in.

"I apologise for the delay Corporal Higgs."

The soldier quickly slipped his watch into his back pocket before extending his hand in greeting.

"As long as I still get paid for my time I have no problem with waiting, Mister..."

"Rook, Andrew Rook, and you needn't worry about that little matter" He gestured towards the door he just came through "and if you follow me I shall give you your briefing, delayed though it may be."

Higgs nodded in acknowledgement before stepping out after the scientist.

Rook continued speaking as they travelled down the corridor. "Normally Dr. Droog prefers to instruct all newcomers to this particular project himself, but this time he had other, more pressing, matters to attend to."  
He paused momentarily to press the call button for an elevator.  
"But that aside, just so I know how much you have been told already, how much do you know about Pantheon?"

"Pantheon? Isn't that the project to do with the psychic abilities of trolls the government has been promoting recently?"

A small smile crept onto the face of the scientist as he stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the second to last floor.

"You are not entirely wrong, but that is not the true focus of the project"

"The true focus...?" Higgs replied nervously, his hand slipping into his pocket.

Rook smiled at Higgs' apparent apprehension "The true focus of Pantheon, as it has been for the past two hundred and sixty eight years, is to research, and control, twelve very special trolls."

There was a small judder as the elevator reached its destination, allowing the duo to step out into another corridor, and continue walking.

"Our facility has been lucky enough to own one of the twelve for testing purposes" Rook stated triumphantly "A ceruleanblood that goes by the title thief"

"Yes, that's very nice but where do I come into this"

"You will be part of an escort team that shall transport thief to another facility temporarily. Most of the security detail have been under the employ of the institute for some time, so they are already aware of the nature of the subject."

"Why are you moving her?"

"The facility's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary is a week from now. There will be a press conference as well as a live broadcast tour of the institution led by our current biggest sponsor. We would prefer it if Pantheon did not go public"

"And why exactly is that?" Asked Higgs. He was beginning to regret coming here.

Rook finally stops in front of a large steel door, and begins keying in a code on the pad next to it.

"Why don't you see her for yourself" he says as he keys in the final digit.

The door opened up to a balcony overlooking a cylindrical pit the approximate size of a small house. A lone figure sits against the wall over on the far side.

"But... Wait... that's just a little girl" Higgs stammered "And she looks like she hasn't eaten anything in months! I didn't agree to cooperate with something like this!"

"That's not entirely true."

"What?"

"Physically she is the equivalent of a thirteen year old female troll, however her actual age is approximately five times both of our ages combined."  
A small smile crept onto the scientist's face. "She is even older than this entire facility."

"I... What... How..."

"Research has shown that every subject in Pantheon has a limited level of control over their physical appearance. This is simply the form that she is most comfortable in."

"But how is she so OLD."

"Trolls higher on the spectrum do have a lifespan far higher than ours."

"I know that!" Higgs snapped "But if this is true then this is weird even by their standards."

Rook took a moment to adjust his spectacles before responding.

"Yes, you are correct. Its cells do not degrade like those of a normal creature, nor do the cells divide. Instead new cells are somehow synthesised directly from the air around it when old cells are damaged in some way."

"What does this mean?" Higgs responded nervously

"It means that not only is this troll entirely immortal it is also indestructible."

Higgs pulled out his pocket watch and began fiddling with the clasp nervously.

"You mean there's really no way to kill it?"

"This morning during our weekly mortality testing" (Higgs grimaced slightly at the thought of what this troll had to go through every week) "we dissolved her body in a vat of hydrochloric acid. And as you can see, despite total cellular destruction, she still somehow lives, but you will be glad to hear that the process of cell reconstruction is not instant, hence the malnourished appearance that usually will persist for another week or so, and as a result inflicting wounds that are heavy enough will incapacitate it."

"And why will I be glad to hear that?" Higgs asked, all the while fearing the answer.

Rook's expression grew dark. "I read about what you did over in brazil." He said, his voice having taken on a significantly lower volume. "It was more than a little impressive. The number of humans capable of taking on a Purpleblood alone, armed or not, can be counted off on one hand."

"It didn't feel like much of an achievement at the time, I was just trying to stay alive."

"And so you have survived, you are a hero for doing so, and that is exactly why we requested your presence." Rook sighed deeply. "The collar around the neck of thief can remotely send a shock directly into its nervous system, thus incapacitating it in the event that thief grows violent, and there are other safety measures in place as well, but if the collar ever was to be removed then do not make the mistake of thinking that this thing can even be compared to a Purpleblood"

"She's that bad?"

"You wont even notice that you've been killed until you have arrived in front of the golden gates" came the morbid reply.

Higgs steps back from the railing, not really quite sure how to respond to what was being said. "Is this some kind of joke to you." He said with a hint of fury creeping into his voice. "Because, right now, all that you have proved to me is that you have been keeping a random troll girl captive without feeding her."

"Would we really go to this much trouble if what I have been telling you was not true?"

"But even so isn't this still..."

Rook broke in angrily. "You have experienced firsthand exactly how aggressive trolls are Corporal Higgs! As well as how dangerous they can be if they give in to that aggression. But you do not comprehend how dangerous these particular trolls are. We were lucky, HUMANITY was lucky, that we were able to capture them before they could do too much harm." He seemed to calm down slightly. "But I understand your apprehension. You look at it and see a little girl, the public will react the same way, and that is exactly why we cannot let her existence become common knowledge."

Higgs dejectedly glanced down into the pit, and found that the girl had been looking up at him. They made eye contact, and for just a moment he could have sworn that one of her eyes seemed to glow. The moment passed, and he broke eye contact.

His voice took on a slightly defeated tone as he replaced the watch in his pocket. "Alright fine. I'll cooperate until this anniversary bullshit is over, but no longer than that." He momentarily glanced sideways at the girl in the pit, and found that she was still looking at him. "Can we go and talk somewhere else? She has been staring at me for a while now and it is beginning to freak me out."

"Ah! Yes, of course. If you would follow me I shall introduce you to the squad that you will be a part of for this assignment."

***

Down in the pit, Vriska smiled as she watched them leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when i said that chapter two would be longer, I lied.
> 
> This is partly because i decided to have shorter updates so that i will hopefully get them out faster.
> 
> If all goes to plan then the next chapter (which will be slightly different to this one) will be up by this weekend (but i cant say for sure as my current update schedule is "whenever the fuck i feel like it")
> 
> Thank you for all your positive comments on the last chapter (This chapter may have taken ten times longer if they hadn't motivated me to the extent that they did). As per usual any feedback or suggestions are appreciated, and you can follow me on my tumblr for updates on story progress.
> 
> Thanks for reading : )
> 
> Edit: Fixed a typo in the title. Thanks go to Cynicow for spotting it


	3. Pantheon subject research notes: Thief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every so often I will be posting a chapter like this one. Some of them will be long, most of them will be fairly short.
> 
> This is probably going to be the longest chapter of this type (there will be regular chapters that are longer than this one).
> 
>  
> 
> In any case, please enjoy : )

Pantheon subject research notes #9

Subject identification: Thief

Gender: Female

Blood colour: Cerulean/Cobalt

Height: 170 centimetres

Weight (maximum): 63 kilograms

Defining features:  
· Incisors long enough to stick over bottom lip.  
· Left eye has seven individual pupils.  
· Asymmetrical horns (one hook shaped, the other resembling a claw).

Holding facility: Diamond institute of medical, and biological research

Assignment: Due to Thief's uncooperative nature the subject has been assigned to Pantheon mortality testing.

Notable abilities:  
· Abnormal physical strength  
· Unlimited regenerative ability  
· Slight control over physical form (only observed change was the ability to grow wings, however theoretically Pantheon subjects are capable of other minor alterations as well)  
· Minor influence on the paths of light waves (Capable of invisibility using this method)  
· Able to move at light speed (however has only been able to do so for up to 0.25 seconds and requires a recovery period between uses)  
· Possible influence over probability (unconfirmed)

Containment procedures:  
· Keep in sealed room at all times.  
· Constant observation is necessary.  
· Keep contact, both physical and verbal, to the absolute minimum possible.  
· Do not be afraid to activate debilitation collar in the event of misbehaviour.  
· Do not answer any questions it may ask, no matter what these questions may be.  
· Do not treat it as an equal, as this may lead to an emotional bond.  
· Do not provoke, subject has proven to be potentially violent.  
· Do not feed, as this could alter test results.  
· Above all do not allow it any information, of any kind, about the other Pantheon subjects.

Show related journal entries? Y/N  
Y

35128 results found

Narrow down to most relevant? Y/N

Y

Related journal entries:

Entry date: 13/06/2010

Today I finally was allowed to meet the subject known as Thief. The fact that I, as the director of this whole damn project, was made to wait so long before being introduced was initially annoying, but I changed my tune pretty quickly when I actually saw her. From the look she gave me I have no doubt that she would have ripped out my throat if I gave her the chance. I can now see why we keep them anesthetized most of the time. I must admit that despite this she seemed to be more apprehensive of me than of the rest of the staff. Some sort of instinctive reaction perhaps? I should make a note of it.

I could clearly see that the holding facility was going to be insufficient in the long run for holding beings of this level of power, nevertheless we are going to just have to deal with it in the meantime.

We have yet to construct the facilities to be able to thoroughly test my informants claims, so I instead busied myself by examining Thief's dice. The material that they have are made from is similar to sapphire in appearance, but is unlike any element I have ever seen. All attempts to chip a piece off for analysis were met with failure. It also appears that, when rolled, the dice temporarily transform into a type of weaponry of varying usefulness (except for the time I rolled them and they changed into a weasel. Can a weasel be considered a weapon? I suppose whoever made these dice thought so).

I think I will spend some time just analysing the various weapons taken off the subjects upon their capture, at least until its safer to actually begin direct testing on the subjects themselves.

Entry date: 14/06/2010

Not much happened today other than thief making a (pretty damn unsuccessful) escape attempt in the middle of the night. She kept on blaming her recapture on her "shitty luck". Normally I would discount luck as being nothing more than a concept, but my informant did say that thief had some sort of probability manipulation ability. I wish that he had gone into more detail about it.

I also found how the dice determine how useful the weapon that they give will be. The first dice that lands determines the units column, the second the tens, third the hundreds etc etc. The higher the final value the more powerful the ability. I must admit that I find it strange that the creator of the dice made it so the final dice is the only one that really matters, but I suppose that different weapons will have different usefulness in different situations (for example: having a sword is useless if you are trying to fight someone with a sniper rifle).

Entry date: 16/06/2010

One of the staff members was playing around with Thief's dice and rolled a full set of ones. He was vaporized instantly. I am never touching those things again.

Entry date: 13/07/2011

Everything is going smoothly with Bard, Heir, Maid, Mage, Prince, Page, Witch, and Sylph. I am told that Rogue and Heir still refuse to be separated. I am sure that this will not be a problem by the end of the week. Knight is still resistant, but progress is nevertheless being made. Thief is absolutely infuriating.

As soon as she found out that we were not actually aware of the true nature of her abilities she completely clammed up. We can't get a single word of useful information out of her. To be fair her method of resistance makes perfect sense. She knows that if we are given knowledge of her powers then we will take special measures against them, thus destroying any chance for her to escape. I can't help but admire how much pain she is willing to endure to resist us. I wonder what her limit is?

Entry date: 23/09/2011

According to our records a few of the staff members working around Thief seem to have developed extreme cases of narcolepsy. However, recently these cases seem to be less frequent. Its rather irritating that no one thought to tell me of this before now, it could have been something to do with one of Thief's abilities. I'll make sure to ask them to inform me if something like this happens again.

Entry date: 07/05/2012

Testing is going very slowly with Thief. She remains more uncooperative than any of the other subjects. Even Knight knows to listen to orders after a few zaps to his nervous system. I'm not sure if she is just plain stupid, or stubborn to a degree that no human could ever hope to match. Finding a use for her is going to be difficult. 

Entry date: 26/09/2014

I have decided to just leave Thief's supervision to other members of Pantheon. There is no point in me paying her any special attention if it is not going to return anything useful. My next focus will be on Sylph's request. It will be difficult explaining the effects of this little project to the general populace, and if it all goes according to plan this will change the world as we know it. The integration of a new species onto earth will have massive after-effects.

Yet, if it wins us the support of Sylph it will be worth it in the long run.

Entry date: 01/08/2016

Made another attempt with Thief. Didn't go well. Received nothing from the encounter other than a bruise to my ego. She came off worse from it in the end. Nevertheless she has managed to become well versed in the art of being annoying in the past few years.

Entry date: 23/08/2025

Construction has begun on the new facility. I am thinking about calling it the "Diamond institute of medical and biological research" or "Diamond" for short. The plan is to use this particular facility as a secure environment to store Thief. Personally I would love to have her killed and be done with her, but obviously Gods are pretty damn hard to kill.

Entry date: 19/11/2025

Since Thief is going to be stored in a medical facility, maybe I can get some of the staff to start performing medical experiments on her. At least then she is good for something. And since she can't die, then they won't accidentally break her. Am I not a genius? Yes I think I am.

Entry date: 05/03/2027

The press babble from the opening of the facility has finally died down so they were finally able to move in Thief. While I was supervising the delivery I was able to get a good look around her new, permanent, residence. The guys who built Alcatraz probably wouldn't have been able to do better themselves. She probably would rather slit her own wrists repeatedly rather than admit it, but from the look of it even Thief was pretty scared by the place.

Nevertheless I can't help but feel worried. We know so little about her actual abilities and so we can't make any special preparations to counter them. My comfort lies in the fact that if she had the ability to escape she would have done so by now. He said that Thief's ability had to do with probability, so perhaps she is only is at her strongest when she has those dice. That actually makes sense, to use those damn things without dying horribly you would have to be ridiculously lucky.

I can't really confirm this (at least not until she finally becomes more compliant), but keeping those dice far away from her should be an easy enough task.

Entry date: 28/08/2030

One of the staff attending to Thief suggested that they start a dedicated mortality testing regime using Thief as the subject. I should promote him.

Entry date: 03/09/2030

I scarcely dare to believe it, but they seem to have found a way to kill these monsters.

As their first attempt they just dumped Thief bodily into an incinerator, melted her flesh clean off! I suppose the only reason why we hadn't done that before is because we still wanted to find a use for her.

Knowing that there actually IS a way to kill these things has left me with a rather feeling about the project. I'm disappointed in a way. I had thought that we had enslaved Gods, but they were as mortal as the rest of us. Ah well. Life is full of little disappointments.

Entry date: 05/09/2030

It was too good to be true wasn't it?

She is coming back, albeit slowly. It appears that the subjects are able to slowly regenerate from even a skeletal state (or at the very least Thief can). Apparently this process only became visible about an hour ago, yet we can already see the beginnings of major organs, muscles, and the nervous and respiratory systems.

It is unknown at this point whether she will regain full cognitive function or not. Fingers crossed for not.

Entry date: 07/09/2030

She is back and is as irritating as ever.

God damn it.

Entry date: 23/06/2047

One of our interplanetary expeditionary teams discovered a small deposit of a mineral that appears to be identical to the one that Thief's dice have been made from. Hopefully the opportunity to examine the element in its raw form will reveal exactly how such a thing can exist in the first place.

Entry date: 31/05/2052

The expeditionary team was attacked by a group of troll pirates as they were approaching earth (as unrealistic as it sounds). The crew was killed and any samples that they were carrying were stolen. Unfortunately this included the one containing the new element. What a shame, I had thought that I would finally be able to fill in one of the gaps in my knowledge of subject Thief.

Entry date: 14/08/2057

Normally I do not care about any problems that these "trolls" may cause (their existence may be my fault, but it is in no way my problem), however the appearance of this new faction known as the "Gambligants" has given me a reason to be concerned. For starters their banner that they fly under is that of a cerulean scorpio symbol, exactly like the one that we found emblazoned on almost all the articles of clothing in Thief's sylladex. Alone this could perhaps be written off as a coincidence, but it has recently come to light that their leader has used the sample that they had stolen from the expeditionary team a few years back to constrict a set of dice identical to the ones previously belonging to thief.

Same as all other information concerning Pantheon, no information about these dice has been released to the public. This means that either we have a SERIOUS information leak, or the universe has a weird sense of humour.

I intend to arrange for security to be increased around all the subjects immediately. I should also probably check if there is anything that Seer has "neglected" to inform me of.

Entry date; 09/08/2088

One of the personnel that was supposed to be supervising Thief decided it would be a great idea to abuse the debilitation collar while taunting her over the course of several days. Yesterday morning he went too far.

It seems that his death was very much a worthwhile cost. We learned that Thief is able to move at incredible speeds, albeit for less than half a second. Using this particular ability she was able to cross the room, and snap his neck before the hostility detector was able to kick in and disable her. Potentially she could move even faster, and for longer, if not for her muscles not being able to take the strain.

Thanks to this I have made a rather worrying realization. We have a heavy reliance on keeping them restrained through physical means. Ordinarily this would be just fine, but we are supposedly dealing with GODS here. If their physical bodies are removed as a factor then we simply will not be able to fight them.

Well until I know exactly how this will end up occurring (if it even happens at all) I will not be able to find a way to deal with it. In any case there's no point in worrying about it now.

Entry date: 15/01/2137

Thief attempted to escape earlier today.

It was very nearly successful. It seems that she was somehow able to bend, and reflect light waves around her in such a way that she was rendered invisible to the naked eye. It was an unexpected little trick, but in the end she was not even able to make it out of the building. I have already made the arrangements for a tracking device to be implanted inside her leg. That should take care of any more attempts at escape on her part.

May as well give the others the same treatment. You can never be too careful.

Entry date: 16/01/2187

I could not help but note that yesterday was the fiftieth anniversary of Thief's last escape attempt. I never paid the extensive length of time between attempts much attention until this point, but now it is starting to worry me. Most (if not all) other members of Pantheon seem to have discounted this as her simply having given up (this is unsurprising as the majority of them had not even been born when her last attempt occurred). I am not so sure of that, because if she really has given up on escape then why does she remain defiant towards us (albeit not as openly as she would a hundred years ago).

I think that it is far more likely that Thief has finally managed to learn the virtue of patience. She is waiting for her chance. If only there was a more permanent solution, but mortality testing, despite the persistence of those involved, is still coming up with no solutions. 

Entry date: 27/11/2276

Harley has started pushing us for a live broadcast tour of Diamond. Apparently its to disprove the recent theories about any unethical experiments that the institute has performed. Aside from Thief, that particular facility has nothing to hide, but obviously that is exactly the problem. We haven't had to move her for the last two hundred and fifty years, and while I have prepared for this kind of situation it is still more than a little inconvenient, and will result in a perfect set-up for disaster.

Harley doesn't know about Pantheon's true face, and so if this all goes public we lose not only the support of the public, but we also lose our biggest investor.

Hopefully I can talk him out of it.

Entry date: 30/11/2276

For the past two hundred years we have had no problems with security related to Pantheon. A security force worth MILLIONS, and all our precautionary work is still ruined by a single old man.

Despite my best efforts, the press conference will take place on the day of Diamond's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.

Thankfully we only have to make arrangements for one of the subjects, Thief. This makes it easier, but even so security is likely to be the weakest it has ever been. Some of my associates have decided to have her debilitation collar upgraded again in a futile attempt to discourage her from escape. She may not have attempted another escape attempt in the last hundred years, but this just means that she has finally learned the virtue of patience. If she is given a chance she will take it.

Nevertheless I shall supervise the security arrangements, and the upgrades to the collar myself. If this is going to happen anyway I may as well make sure that its done right.

Entry date: 04/01/2277

One of my biggest headaches about this whole affair is Thief's transportation. It will be easy enough to drive her from point A to point B, but during the journey security will be at its absolute weakest. If I could do so I would enlist the entire armed forces to escort her to her destination, however a large escort will draw more than a little suspicion as to its purpose (especially right before a press conference). Because of this fact I am forced to rely on a smaller escort team. However if all goes to plan then this will not be a problem. Even if Thief manages to escape it is only a matter of time before we pick her up again.

Even so I can't help but feel that I am missing something important.

Entry date: 23/02/2277

Someone very interesting has been hired as part of Thief's escort. The man's name is Jonas Higgs. He is notable for the fact that he is one of the only eight human beings in history to defeat a troll of higher blood than cerulean (a purpleblood to be exact).  
He is no Strider, but nevertheless I am happy to have one such as him as part of the team. Seer guaranteed that he will be cooperative so there should be no problems in that regard. Although apparently he was rather appalled by Thief's malnourished appearance.

Unfortunately I was unable to personally introduce him to the project, as I had to deal with a large amount of red-tape surrounding the upcoming press conference. After all if those damn reporters decide that they want to stick their nose into some of our other facilities then precautions have to be made.

 

\--No other results--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AS IT TURNS OUT STARTING A FIC RIGHT BEFORE EXAMS IS A BAD IDEA
> 
> Im not going to abandon this fic, but updates will be extremely rare until mid june (assuming I update AT ALL before that point).
> 
>  
> 
> I feel I should mention that this IS the same guy writing the whole way through. Im not going to tell you how thats possible, but its not actually too hard to figure out if you think about it for a while (even if i do say so myself).
> 
> I also changed the story summary on account of the previous summary not telling you anything about the story itself (this new one isn't much better, but its as good as its gonna get).
> 
> As per usual comments are appreciated, and I am also happy to answer any questions you have about the fic, or the AU in general.
> 
> Thank you for reading : )


	4. Prophecy for tomorrow

\-- justiceKeeper [JK] began trolling righteousPreacher [RP] \--

JK: H3y!

JK: H3llo?

JK: You know, g3ner4lly wh3n 4 fr13nd gr33ts you, you 4 l34st gr4nt th3m th3 court3sy of 4 r3spons3. >:[

RP: T9m9rr9w everything that we have 6een waiting f9r will 6e fulfilled.

JK: Wh4t?

RP: T9m9rr9w, just after 9pm, s9me 9f 9ur pe9ple will intercept an arm9ured truck, and its esc9rt, travelling away fr9m Diam9nd.

JK: L3g4l 1ssu3s 4s1d3, wh4t's so sp3c14l 4bout th4t truck?

RP: Isn't it 96vi9us? It c9ntains 9ne 9f 9ur G9ds.

JK: W41t...WH4T! Th3y'r3 4ctu4lly r34l!

RP: Y9u didn't think that they were?

JK: Y3s...no...1ts just th4t for so long w3'v3 only 3v3r h4d your word, 4nd th3 word of th3 oth3r proph3ts to go on. So... y34h, sorry.

RP: N9, its fine. T9 6e h9nest s9metimes I w9ndered if perhaps it was all in my head. Its 9nly natural f9r y9u guys t9 have s9me d9u6ts.

JK: But 1f wh4t you s4y 1s tru3, th3n 4ll th3s3 y34rs of w41t1ng 4r3 4bout to p4y off! Oh Gods 1 h4v3 GOT to s33 th1s. Who 3ls3 1s go1ng on th3 4mbush t34m?

RP: N9! Y9u can't g9 with them.

JK: Why not? W3'v3 w41t3d so long, 1 w4nt to b3 th3r3 to s33 1t h4pp3n.

RP: 6ecause y9u'll die.

JK: ...Wh4t?

RP: Every9ne wh9 am6ushes the esc9rt will, it's a suicide missi9n.

JK: 4R3 YOU S3R1OUS? >:O

RP: I d9n't like it any m9re than y9u d9, 6ut 9nce a pr9phet has had a visi9n then it may as well have already happened. Y9u kn9w that.

JK: ...Do th3y know?

RP: I w9uldn't send any9ne 9ut 9n that kind 9f missi9n with9ut them kn9wing what it w9uld mean. The 9nly 9nes g9ing 9n the missi9n are v9lunteers. 6esides we have waited years f9r an 9pp9rtunity like this, we can't let it slip away. I may n9t like what must 6e d9ne, 6ut that d9esn't make it any less necessary.

JK: 4lr1ght, f41r 3nough. 1 know you wouldn't l3t som3th1ng l1k3 th1s h4pp3n unl3ss 1t w4s n3c3ss4ry.

RP: L99k 9n the 6right side. Unless f9r the first time in tw9 hundred years a pr9phet's visi9n turns 9ut t9 6e wr9ng, t9m9rr9w evening we'll finally 6e a6le t9 meet 9ne 9f the G9ds.

JK: Pl34s3 don't j1nx 1t. >:[

RP: Hehe! (:B

JK: Do you h4v3 4ny 1d34 wh1ch on3 of th3 Gods 1s go1ng to b3 1n th4t truck?

RP: The cerulean6l99d.

JK: So th3 Th13f of L1ght th3n?

RP: Yeah.

JK: Gods d4mn 1t!

RP: Why is that a 6ad thing?

JK: 1 w4s hop1ng th4t w3 would f1nd my p4tron b3for3 sp1d3rb1tch's. Sh3's go1ng to b3 1nsuff3r4bl3 onc3 sh3 h34rs 4bout th1s.

RP: Y9u tw9 really need t9 let 6yg9nes 6e 6yg9nes.

JK: Not 4 ch4nc3!

RP: ):B

JK: Th3r3 1s...on3 mor3 th1ng th4t 1 would l1k3 to 4sk.

RP: Ask away.

JK: 4ll th3 pr3v1ous proph3ts 4lw4ys us3d to t4lk 4bout how th3 Gods would look 4ft3r us, 4nd how th3y would l34d us to v1ctory ov3r th3 hum4ns. You'v3 n3v3r s41d 4nyth1ng l1k3 th4t. So 1 n33d to know...

RP: ...g9 9n.

JK: ...Wh4t 4r3 th3 Gods go1ng to do onc3 th3y'r3 fr33d.

RP: N9 clue.

JK: You'r3 b4s1c4lly th3 l34d3r of our 3nt1r3 r3l1g1on, 4nd you h4v3 NO CLU3 wh4t th3 Gods 4r3 go1ng to do to us onc3 th3y'r3 r3l34s3d.

RP: I've never had any visi9ns c9ncerning the pers9nalities 9f the G9ds, 9r what m9tivates them. H9nestly I d9n't think that the 9ther pr9phets ever did either. They just assumed that since the G9ds were tr9lls like us then they w9uld *fav9ur* us 9ver the humans, and they might n9t 6e wr9ng, 6ut I can't say anything f9r sure.

JK: Th1s do3sn't ch4ng3 4nyth1ng though, do3s 1t?

RP: N9 it d9esn't.

JK: Th3n 1ts s3ttl3d, 1'm go1ng w1th th3 4mbush t34m.

RP: What! N9!

JK: 1 won't p4rt1c1p4t3 1n th3 4tt4ck 1ts3lf, 1'll just w4tch.

JK: Unt1l w3 know wh3th3r or not sh3 w1ll b3 w1ll1ng to h3lp us th3n th3 b3st th1ng to do would b3 to k33p h3r und3r obs3rv4t1on, 4nd 1'm th3 only on3 who c4n t41l h3r w1thout h3r know1ng.

JK: You don't r34lly h4v3 4n opt1on oth3r th4n to l34v3 th1s to m3.

RP: ...Yeah, y9u're right, 6ut 6e careful, I d9n't want t9 have t9 tell my 6est friend that I sent his matesprit t9 her death.

JK: Don't you worry 4bout m3 1'll b3 f1n3.

JK: L4t3r nubby! >:]

RP: Stay safe.

\-- justiceKeeper [JK] ceased trolling righteousPreacher [RP]\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter shit will finally hit the fan.
> 
> Stay tuned. : )


	5. If this is a prank, it isn't funny.

It was the end of another day at Hephaestus school. A certain overly ironic coolkid was in the process of retrieving his skateboard from his locker as he noticed an envelope pinned to the underside. Opening it up he found a note which had been hastily scrawled in black pen. However it wasn't so much the handwriting (he honestly didn't really give a shit about the handwriting) as the contents of the note itself that almost made him choke on the carton of apple juice he had been drinking.

dave

on Saturday the 25th of march (tomorrow from when youre reading this) at exactly 8:49am you and john will find a half dead troll girl in the dumpster next to his house

keep her safe

telling bro will be ok he can help

try to keep her from rose and jade for as long as possible

people will be looking for her

if they find her then everything is going to turn to shit

she is going to be your best chance of making it through the next few weeks

also this isn't one of johns shitty pranks this is real

good luck

try not to die

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS FIC ISNT DEAD YET DAMMIT (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ ┻━┻
> 
>  
> 
> sorry about the short chapter. I've been working on a longer one for a while now but lack of time (caused by exams) has prevented me from finishing it.
> 
> I wonder who the mysterious individual who wrote the letter is.
> 
> How does he have such knowledge of the future?
> 
> All of you already know the answer but lets pretend that you don't for the time being. (o´ω`o)
> 
> (just fyi the lack of punctuation in the letter wasn't a mistake on my part)


	6. Teeth and Thumbs

Higgs pulled out his watch for the seventh time in the past five minutes. The time was 4:24pm. Having once again confirmed the passage of time, his gaze returned to the door at the far end of the room. He inhaled deeply from his cigarette. Thief (that can't be her real name can it?) would be brought through that door soon enough, and he was feeling more than a little apprehensive. 

"Hey are you that guy who took down the purpleblood in Brazil?" 

Higgs quickly stubbed out the cigarette on the side of the van that he had been leaning on, and turned to find a tall, female, security guard looking him over intently. 

"Yeah you are aren't you" she said, answering her own question. She held her hand out in greeting. "Name's Gina Pavlock. Normally I work looking after Witch, but today I'll be helping you get Thief to her destination." 

Higgs took her hand, and opened his mouth to respond, but was distracted by the door swinging open. Thief was brought in by a group of eight other security guards. The guard standing behind her, a man whose immense size could easily be compared to that of a purpleblood, held her hands behind her back in a way similar to how the police would restrain a criminal. Her head was hunched down in such a way that her hair obscured her face from Higgs' view.

"Isn't the security around her a little lax right now?" Higgs asked. "I mean, after all I've been told about how dangerous she is, shouldn't she be restrained more effectively?" 

"Relax." Gina said in response. "She can't do shit to us. Here, watch this." 

She walked up to the group and indicated for them to stand still for a second. "Hey! Look at me." She said to Thief. 

Thief did not respond. 

Without warning, Gina struck her in the face with the back of her hand. "I said, look at me!" She yelled. 

"Stop that!" Higgs cried, alarmed and disgusted by the spectacle. 

"Relax!" Gina shouted back, while striking Thief's face again. "Like I said, she can't do jack shit to us." Completely misunderstanding the reason for Higgs' concern.

On the third strike Thief's head was knocked to the side enough that Higgs was able to get a clearer view of her face. Her lips began to pull back in a snarl, but her body suddenly spasmed, and went limp. 

"See!" Gina said with a cruel laugh. "If she even THINKS about attacking one of us then the collar around her neck will deliver a direct shock to her nervous system". She grabbed Thief's chin roughly with her right hand, and lifted Thief's face so it was facing hers. "Isn't that right" Gina said to her in a mocking tone. 

For a moment, Thief's expression remained dazed, before suddenly growing focused. Her left eye flashed, and, if not for what happened next, Higgs might have recognised it as being the similar to what he thought he saw back in her cell. 

The only real way to describe what happened would be to compare it to what would happen if someone cut several frames out of a video, specifically the part where Thief jerked her head out of Gina's grip. A small thing to skip, but nevertheless a significant occurrence when it happens right before your eyes. 

Once again Thief spasmed and went limp, but this time, as her jaw went slack, a small object fell out of her mouth. 

She had bitten off Gina's right thumb. 

The reaction that this received was as you would expect. Gina fell to her knees clutching her bleeding hand and screaming in pain. The most of the guards in Thief's escort recoiled backwards in fear, any faith that they had once held in the safety measures protecting them being brought into question. Higgs stood and stared in a shocked silence. The only oddity in the group's reactions was that the large man seemed to take this in his stride, simply clicking his teeth disapprovingly and hoisting Thief back onto her feet a second time. 

"What...fuck...how." Gina panted. She looked up at Thief, who was smirking slightly, and her expression twisted into one of pure hatred. "You little BITCH" she yelled while lunging for Thief's throat, clearly intending to throttle her, but was suddenly pulled back by one of two men who had entered the room during the commotion. 

The man who grabbed her, a man of medium height who had messy, dark hair, a scar over one eye, and a smile that could only really be described as one that a serial killer would wear, was the first to speak. "While I appreciate the pressing need for revenge in situations like this, trying to kill her is pretty damn pointless" he leaned in closer to Gina's ear. "Besides, I think we can all see who would come off worse in the end". 

The second man, that Higgs recognised as being Dr Daniel Droog, the director of Diamond, was a tall, thin individual who, despite his neat, businesslike appearance, seemed just as threatening as the first man, spoke up. "Boxcars get the subject into the van, Slick, escort miss Pavlock to the medical bay." The larger man nodded his consent and began walking Thief to the truck. Slick, on the other hand, appeared to not be too pleased with this request. 

"Do I have to?" he complained "Its just a freakin thumb. She doesn't need anyone to baby-sit her." 

"Just do it." Droog responded calmly. 

Slick grumbled indignantly, and skulked off with Gina in tow. Droog waited until they had left before addressing the group. "Well, now that that little matter has been resolved, let's get down to..." 

"RESOLVED?" one of the escort team abruptly broke in, "That bitch just attacked one of us through the collar! I didn't sign up sign up to get killed by one of those monsters." 

The man sighed, "If you had researched your charge at all, then you would know that she is capable of moving quickly enough that she may complete an act of aggression before the collar is able to administer the shock..." 

"But...but then she can..." the guard began to stammer. 

"We recently updated the collar, thus making it capable of reacting more quickly to a threat from the wearer." Droog continued. "It is more effective than it has ever been before. Despite this I don't understand where you got the impression that you were never under any threat from any of the subjects, but if you want to pull out now..." He gestured towards the door behind him. "...then you are free to leave our service at any time." 

"No I...I didn't mean..." 

"Then get back to work." Droog concluded, a menacing tone entering his voice. 

The group began to disperse, all going to complete various menial tasks in preparation for the upcoming trip. Higgs began to follow suit, but was stopped by Droog, who began speaking in a businesslike manner. 

"Mr Higgs, have you reconsidered our job offer?" 

"Uhhh...well I did think about it, but I honestly would prefer to stick with my army job" he said in a slightly hesitant manner. "Will that be a problem sir?" 

"This will be fine as long as you keep to our contract" came the response. 

"I won't be telling anyone about the project if that's what you're worried about. I may not be too happy about what's going on in this place, but any doubts about it all being necessary..." He paused and turned his head to glance back at the van, just in time to see Boxcars engage the security lock on the back door, "...well, safe to say they're long gone after that little display." 

Droog smiled slightly. "If that's the case then that makes things a hell of a lot easier." He turned to leave." 

"Sir I feel the need to bring up my concerns about security..." 

Droog let out an exasperated sigh. "Measures have been taken against Thief Mr Higgs. This was regrettably a rather extreme event, but your team will be able to contain her provided you don't screw up royally on your own terms." 

"No Sir, you misunderstand, I'm talking about the route that we will be taking." 

"Ah, you mean the slum." Droog said, his subtle smile returning. 

"Yes sir" Higgs said with a slight nod, "passing through the slums will open us up to a massive risk. If some random group of troll thugs decides to attack us, for whatever reason their thick skulls can come up with, then we are going to be hard pressed to deal with it. To be honest I can see no reason why we can't use the Typheus." 

Droog chuckled slightly and folded his hands behind his back. "You're making the assumption that the accelway is the safest route." 

"I don't understand" 

"And I am sorry to say that that is how things will remain" Droog proclaimed with a insincere apologetic tone to his voice. His face grew stern once more. "The reason why I asked for you to come and work with us was in order for you to deal with those kinds of problems Mr Higgs" 

 

_**"Do not disappoint me"** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally planned to be the last chapter following a random OC ( I keep on nearly calling them NPCs) but as a result of me not having the time to finish this whole thing without a massive delay I decided to split what I originally planned to be one long chapter into three smaller parts and upload them as they are completed. These are still fairly relevant to the plot as it details how Vriska initially manages to escape from her captors (not really a spoiler as A) it was really freaking obvious that she was going to escape, and B) It was outright said that she was going to escape in chapter 4).
> 
> If you think that the way Vriska acted in this chapter was out of character then please bear in mind that she has been experimented on by these guys for more than two hundred and fifty years (and as much as I love her I will freely admit that she wasn't exactly sane to start with). YOU go through that and then get slapped in the face repeatedly without biting off that motherfucker's thumb.
> 
> After making a fairly major error when writing chapter 5 (it is currently MARCH in the fic not may for those who read the chapter before I fixed it) I was careful to read through this a lot more thoroughly but please do tell me if I missed anything particularly major.


	7. Pantheon research notes: Debilitation collar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Completely forgot that I had this chapter finished. When I originally wrote it I intended for it to be released a bit later, but since its now relevant HAVE IT NOW (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ

Pantheon research notes - Debilitation collar

Inventor: Boris Kalman

Updates:

Mk-2 - 20/02/2015  
· Added hostility detector  
· Added Lycazone tank  
· Added Lycazone injection unit  
· Boosted power of nerve charger by 500%  
Mk-3 - 17/11/2057  
· removed unlock  
· added external shock device  
· upgraded batteries  
· added recharge port  
· updated signal receiver  
Mk-4 - 25/01/2277  
· Boosted power of nerve charger by 250%  
· increased toughness of casing around electronics  
· coated with compound resistant to corrosive substances  
· updated signal receiver  
· Increased reaction speed 

Usage in Pantheon: Sends a charge through the nervous system that causes pain strong enough to disable the subjects. Can be used for both containing, and disciplining the subjects. Lycazone withdrawal will disable subject in the event of removal of a collar. Must not be removed unless subject is under heavy anesthetic. Must be recharged regularly. Batteries must be replaced once per annum.

Show related journal entries? Y/N

Y

865 results found

Narrow down to most relevant? Y/N

Y

Related journal entries:

Entry date: 08/10/2012

The debilitation collar is undoubtedly the single most important creation in the history of humanity. If it were not for this one small creation then controlling the pantheon would have been all but impossible.

While the concept of a device used to send an electric shock into its wearer in order to discourage bad behaviour is hardly a new one, the debilitation collar sends the shock through the nerve cells directly into the brain, essentially creating a simulation of a far more intense electric shock, and as a result will be able to deliver the sensation of intense pain without otherwise damaging the body.

Attempts at using the collar in any situation other than pantheon have been, to say the least, unsuccessful. Even on the lowest level any lesser creatures (even trolls of higher blood chroma) tend to die of shock after a single use, and thus we have been unable to actually obtain an accurate read on the exact level of the pain the collar causes. Fortunately we have no such worries with pantheon, as they are capable of surviving the shock that it causes (as well as literally everything else we are capable of doing to them). We are still unsure of the mental effects, but it hardly matters in the end as long as they are under control.

Entry date: 02/02/2015

Unfortunately it appears that the collar, as it is now at least, is insufficient. Pantheon subject "Bard" made a near successful attempt at escape earlier today resulting in the deaths of thirty-seven personnel, injuries of varying severity for many others, and the destruction of several thousand dollars worth of equipment. This kind of situation is irritating, but in hindsight I probably should have seen this coming

Fortunately the cocktail of various medicinal substances that we have been using to pacify him also had some sort of soporific affect on him, thus reducing his, frankly monstrous, strength to a state where security were able to bring him down (See Pantheon security report 02/02/2015 for details).

The problem lies in that it was not the collars ineffectiveness to cause crippling pain that was the problem, but rather the fact that "Bard" had worked himself up into a state where he was completely unable to feel pain, and was thus able to tear off his collar before it could bring him down. This has lead me to think about measures through which Pantheon subjects may be crippled after the collar has been removed.

I have had some ideas, but it will take a little time before they can be implemented. I shall report my findings here once the finished product is complete.

Entry date:21/02/2015

The collars initial tests on subject Knight were a complete success. The addition of a mechanism that constantly injects lycazone into the subjects bloodstream (See Pantheon research notes - Lycazone, for details) has provided us with a method of incapacitating the subjects after the collar has been removed. As long as we manage to contain the subjects for the time it takes for the withdrawal symptoms to kick in.

Tests on Bard were also successful, the stronger charge is able to completely disable even him. This means that he will be unable to cause problems while wearing the collar, and he will be unable to last long with it off either, perfect.

In addition to this we have also added a hostility detector, and this particular upgrade should reduce the probability of unassisted escape by subjects to almost zero. The exact mechanics of it are rather complicated (See Pantheon research notes - Hostility detector for details), but it essentially detects the signals that the brain sends to the muscles that indicate destructive impulses. A fairly impressive set-up.

Entry date: 31/07/2015

Upgrading to the Debilitation collar MK-2 has resulted in far greater docility on the part of most subjects. Unfortunately Knight, and Thief remain uncooperative despite our best efforts, which is annoying to say the least. We have yet to have a case where the lycazone tank ended up being a necessity, but it is comforting to know that it is there.

Entry date: 17/11/2057

It has been quite some time since we have updated the collars, and honestly up to this point it has not exactly been necessary. However, due to some recent developments originating from these newly formed "gambligants", I have been given reason to acknowledge the slight possibility that information about Pantheon has been leaked (see Pantheon research notes - Thief for details). My suspicions do not have 100% conformation, but after all the work that I have put into Pantheon I refuse to have it all ruined by simple carelessness.

The least important update is the removal of the lock. Instead the collar is directly welded on to the neck of the subject (memo to self: keep Brock Taylor under observation. If his objections about the welding become anything more than just objections then he may need to be terminated) thus making it more difficult to remove by any potential opposition (also has the added benefit of putting a stop to Knight's constant attempts at escape). 

The most major addition is the external shock device. Now, in the event of someone tampering with the collar, the nerve stun will affect both the wearer, and anyone in contact with the collar. I am still not sure exactly how strong the effects will be on the second party, some test subjects from various parts of the spectrum will be required in order to test its effectiveness.

We also upgraded the battery in order to cope with the power requirements of the previous update, and we added a recharge port so that we now will be able to wait longer before replacing each battery. Anything that reduces the amount of effort that we have to spend on menial tasks is always good in my books.

Entry date: 04/12/2057

Today was a good day. The test of the external shock device resulted in the deaths of all test subjects, a complete success. We also discovered during the test that Dalia Finnie holds sympathy for the trolls. I had her terminated half an hour ago, and told Seer's caretakers to make sure that they are more thorough during the screening process.

To top it all off the staff canteen is serving lasagna, delicious!

Entry date: 30/11/2276

For the past two hundred years we have had no problems with security related to Pantheon. Stun cannons, electromagnetic barriers, a security force worth MILLIONS, and yet despite all of this Harley STILL manages to ruin it all.

Despite my best efforts, the press conference will take place on the day of Diamond's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary.

Thankfully we only have to make arrangements for one of the subjects, Thief. This makes it easier, but even so security is likely to be the weakest it has ever been. Some of my associates have decided to have her debilitation collar upgraded again in a futile attempt to discourage her from escape. She may not have attempted another escape attempt in the last hundred years, but this just means that she has finally learned the virtue of patience. If she is given a chance she will take it.

Nevertheless I shall supervise the security arrangements, and the upgrades to the collar myself. If this is going to happen anyway I may as well make sure that its done right.

Entry date: 01/12/2276

It seems that Thief's supervisors wish to throw her in a vat of HCl as part of mortality testing. They are asking for the upgrades to her collar to include a coating to protect against corrosive substances, thus allowing them to not have to replace it afterwards.

I decided to comply with their request even though the acid is unlikely to kill her (if incinerating her does not work then this probably won't either), but if it works then it makes things easier on all of us.

Disposing of the body directly before a press conference may be a problem though.

Entry date: 21/02/2277

Updates to the collar are finished. They are fairly simple this time around. The casing around the electronics has been strengthened somewhat, made it so that it can react more quickly to hostile intention/action (it is probably still not quick enough for it to be foolproof but it should somewhat reduce the risk),and we have increased the signal range. This will allow us to activate it remotely in the event that Thief's escort somehow royally f*ck up (hopefully it should not be necessary). There is also the corrosion resistant coating that we have applied (that particular test will continue along sometime early in march).

Due to constant pestering from my associates I have raised the strength of the nerve stunner by a further two hundred and fifty percent, a change that is unnecessary, and will only serve to shorten battery life. The pain the collar causes already completely disables any member of the pantheon, even bard. Their problem is that they have no real experience of what the subjects capabilities are, and despite this they still consider themselves experts. If not for me then Pantheon would have fallen apart decades ago.

I suppose it is slightly hypocritical to say that they are the only ones with gaps in their knowledge about the subjects. If what my old informant said was true then even if I lived for a million years then I would still not see their full power. Hopefully it never comes to that.

In other news, one of the lab assistants found my stash of "reading material". I let Slick take care of the guy personally. That guy made awful coffee. He won't be missed.

\--No other results--  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This damn thing is one of the main methods that Pantheon have used to keep the trolls in check.
> 
> Just to emphasise, this thing is WELDED onto their necks, and causes enough pain to give almost all mortal beings a heart attack (am I making you hate the villains of this story enough yet?).
> 
> You may have gotten a slight idea of what Droog's "reading material" was from his canon interest in grey ladies (its troll porn).
> 
> Who could this mysterious informant be?


	8. Define: Trollslums, Typheus accelway, Cetus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On account of the fact that I am finding it exceedingly difficult to get all of this story's excessively large amount of backstory into dialogue between characters, which would mean that I would be giving this exposition in ALMIGHTY NARRATOR VOICE anyway, I decided to give information on a few major terms that you will be coming across in the next chapter (one has also been mentioned in a previous chapter).
> 
> I know this may seem a bit lazy, but I am really pressed for time right now and so by doing this I can more easily get the actual story chapters out more easily.
> 
> So yeah EXPOSITION DUMPING (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

####  **Trollslums**

Nicknamed after the block-list of a popular messaging platform, these are areas in which trolls are allowed to live. Areas likely to be assigned as trollslums are generally dilapidated areas of cities that are no longer worth the upkeep, or small towns with very low human populations (obviously, any humans without a death wish are advised to move out of the area first).

Trolls who live in the slums are free from almost all human laws, save for some limitations such as, for example, not being allowed to own firearms of any kind, but in exchange forfeit any rights to human healthcare, education, or jobs. Trolls can choose to receive these rights by abiding by human laws, but due to the level of prejudice (or to be a bit more blunt, racism) they suffer from, very few choose that option.

Humans who willingly enter a trollslums (unless on official business) do so at their own peril as the law does not protect those who partake in reckless behaviour of that kind.

As a result of the _freedom_ that comes from their lawlessness, trollslums are zones where "survival of the fittest" is a constant driving force.

####  **Typheus accelway**

A system of above and rails that run both above and below ground and span almost the entire planet. By using the accelway people and goods are able to be transported at speeds surpassing mach 2. This mode of transport (while cheaper than what we'd pay for a plane ride of equal distance) is quite expensive, and so cars and other such methods of transport have not quite been made obsolete.

####  **Cetus**

One of the largest cities in the world at more than five thousand square kilometres. It is the hub of the Typheus accelway and is home to the Clubs institute of biotechnological and psychological research.

Cetus is surrounded by the largest trollslum currently in existence. Originally this trollslum only consisted of a dilapidated industrial area, but over the years grew to surround the entire city. A massive wall was constructed in order to separate the city from the slum. Thanks to the accelway humans can easily and safely leave the city (taking a train to a station just outside the city is free but any further than that costs the typical fee).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I didn't miss anything important (I am always open to any questions about the story if you are confused about anything).
> 
> Because I am a bastard, I am going to remind you that Vriska was held at the "Diamond institute of medical and biological research" and there they performed medical experiments on her.
> 
> So what do you think goes on in the "Clubs institute of biotechnological and psychological research" guys? (ʘ‿ʘ✿)


	9. ==> Be Thief

==> Be Thief

You cannot be Thief because the name of the person that you are currently being is NOT Thief.

Your name is Vriska Serket.

Most of the humans don't know that though, most of them don't even know that you ever had a name in the first place (except for that one guy, but you'd rather not think about him right now).

You are currently sitting in the back of the van that the large human with the strange name (what kind of lusus would name their grub Boxcars?) shoved you into. He is currently sitting in the front with another human. The big one seems to think that they will be able to take you on if you get out of this damn collar somehow. To be honest they're probably right (those guns pack a punch), but you're not worried. With all the luck you've been hoarding up these past few weeks it would be a miracle if something DOESN'T happen over the course of this trip to ensure your escape.

For the first several hours of the journey nothing eventful happens. Patience is a quality that you were forced to learn over the years, but the wait is still irritating. You occupy your time by loosening the parts of the collar where the metal melted during the welding from your neck. Its a slow, painful process, constantly overshadowed by the potential for accidentally setting off the collar, or the fact that one of those chumps in the front might realize exactly how long you had been scratching at your neck for. It's still got to be done though; you don't intend to wear this thing for much longer.

Other than that all you can really do during the trip is listen to the muffled conversations between the two in the front. Mostly its just the big guy going on and on about some stupid human romance novels (8luuuuuuuuh!!!!!!!!). The stuff the other one talks about is pretty interesting though, especially his detailed account of how he stuck a knife through the eye of a purpleblood. He also says some stuff about a human child being adopted by a fangbeast lusus, which is also pretty cool considering that even back on Alternia having a fangbeast lusus was almost a rare and as awesome as having a spider lusus.

When something finally did happen (as was inevitable), you are at first unsure as to whether its because of good luck, or if you had fucked everything up tremendously by stealing other peoples BAD luck all this time. A massive explosion ripped through the van, sending you flying. Of course, the jolt also sets off the collar, thus sending you into dreamland for a while.

When you begin to come back to consciousness the first thing you become aware of is a throbbing pain in the right side of your neck. You slowly lift your hand up to the affected area, and find a small shard of metal. Its gone right trough the collar and dug into your neck slightly. You tug it out, and are immediately slammed in the chest by a painful bolt of electricity which almost makes you black out again.

Resisting the strong urge to swear loudly you open your eyes slightly. It appears that the explosion from earlier has opened a large hole in the side of the vehicle. The man who had stood up for you earlier is currently standing in front of the opening, your supposedly unconscious/dead (not much difference in your case) body fixed firmly in his gun's sights. You can smell someone cooking hamburgers...

Oh wait, that's you.

You know from years of experience that the collar doesn't cause external damage. The human must have shot you, which means that the collar is probably broken. Perfect, now all you need to do is find a way to get out without this guy zapping you again and you're free.

Despite the guy's apparent attentiveness, you don't have to wait long for your chance. There is a loud bang comes from somewhere nearby. The human's head swivels in the direction of the sound, distracted. You are up on your feet almost instantly. You rush at him and thrust your arm at his chest. It cleaves straight through his ribs, heart, and lungs, and out the other side. The man gives one last choking breath, accompanied by large quantities of blood, before you side your arm back out and he falls to the ground, as dead as any man could ever be.

You step out in to the open air, and hear a low click to your right. You turn and find your gaze met by the human woman whose thumb you had bitten off earlier (it tasted terrible). She's trembling, quite clearly terrified of you. The weapon that she is holding is unfamiliar to you (unlike the one the male had which was extremely similar to some types of rifle from Alternia). Tiny wisps of smoke are still rising from the barrel, so you don't have to be a genius to figure out that that thing was what mad the noise from earlier.

If this woman had been smart she would have pulled the trigger as soon as she had a clear shot (and would have kept pulling it until your body was nothing but an unidentifiable smear on the floor), but she clearly isn't smart and so instead she has initiated the sort of idiotic stand off that you see in every brainless action flick (and sometimes in a few that are less brainless). Your body isn't in any fit state to pull off a troll Neo, so instead you play the bluff card. Your lungs and throat protest and the very idea of speech, but despite this you croak out a single word.

"Run."

The facade of fearlessness that she was trying to maintain crumbles. She turns tail and flees, dropping the gun in the process. You're still holding the shard of metal that you pulled from your neck, and can't be bothered with chasing her, so with a flick of your wrist it embeds itself firmly in the back of her skull, killing her instantly.

Now that all the immediate threats have been dealt with you are able to take in your surroundings without interruption. The convoy was halted in what looks like some sort of broken-down residential area. The ground is littered with corpses belonging to both Humans and Trolls (you almost stub your toe on one human’s decapitated head). There are two other vehicles in the vicinity (one wrecked, another simply riddled with bullet holes) which you assume were also part of your escort. It’s night-time. There is a single pale-white moon shining in the sky. You didn’t know that this planet had only one moon. You can’t make out any stars though. The sky looks so empty, so limitless, so...so...

So free.

You’re free

YOU’RE FREE!

You let out a whoop of joy and rip off the accursed collar that has been such a pain in your ass for so long. Several of the inch-long needles responsible for administering the shock break off in your neck, but you don’t even feel the pain.

Because for the first time in what’s probably been over a hundred sweeps, you’re free.

Your face feels wet. You lift a hand up to your face and it comes away damp from a cobalt liquid. Blood? No, you’re crying. Oh fuck no; you can’t let anyone see you like this.

The moment ends and reality comes flooding back in. You look over to the collar and remember that you’re on a time limit. Your jailers tried to hide the fact that you were on a chemical drip from you, but they couldn’t do it. Even if the limit of your psychic control over humans is putting them to sleep, mind reading is still very much a thing that you are capable of (albeit with some difficulty). You have just a couple of hours to find a good enough hiding spot for you to ride out the withdrawal, otherwise all of this will be for nothing. Momentarily you wonder if leaving the collar on would have delayed things any longer, but then you realise that the drip probably turned itself off when the collar broke. Ah well. You would have had to deal with withdrawal from that crap sooner or later. Might as well be sooner.

The first thing you do is to remove the remains of your charred t-shirt and use it to mop up as much of the blood covering you as possible, before discarding it. While doing this you make a mental note of the fact that while impaling someone with your arm sounds like a cool idea, in practice it is actually really messy. Next you locate a specific spot on your thigh, grit your teeth in anticipation of the upcoming pain, and plunge in three fingers (well... two and a thumb) in order to pull out a tracking device the approximate size and shape as a malteaser. Once you had bound your self-inflicted injury, and flung the tracking device as far away from you as possible, you begin walking in the approximate direction that the convoy was travelling.

Most people would consider it to be smarter to get as far away from the place that your captors wanted to take you as possible, but as crazy as it seems, there is logic to your actions, based on past experiences. One of the first games you’d ever participated in before you got into FLARP was threshecutioners and cullbait. The basic idea was that one of the participants would be the “cullbait” and the rest threshecutioners. The threshecutioners would all start at one of the participants’ hives and would give the cullbait a five minute head start. If the cullbait was able to evade the threshecutioners for the duration of the time limit then he won. It was a difficult game as the odds were always monumentally stacked against the cullbait.

You of course, won the first time you tried. 

The reason why you won was dumb luck more than anything. During the five minute head start you climbed up on to the roof of the starting hive and stayed there the whole time. All the threshecutioners assumed that you’d use the head start to get as far away as possible and as a result no one thought to look back at the hive. Your strategy follows similar principles. The closer your hiding place is to the enemy, the less likely they are to search there. Its a big gamble and it won’t work for long. Right now though, gambling is pretty much all you’ve got.

After around five minutes of walking you find yourself staring at a GIGANTIC wall. You duck inside a nearby building in order to view it with less chance of being seen. There is only one gate nearby that you can see and it is absolutely covered in human guards. The wall itself is sheer concrete, impossible to climb without the right tools and far more time that anyone trying to break in will ever have. The thing looks to be impenetrable to any normal person, but you are by no stretch of the imagination a “normal” person.

You feel a small tingling sensation as you extend your wings from your back. You give a few experimental flaps, which lift you a few feet off of the floor, stopping only when you bash your horns on the ceiling. You are pretty out of practice. Trying to fly feels a lot like trying to walk on a leg that you’ve been sitting on for hours.

If anyone had been watching you as you subsequently exited the building it would have seemed to them as if you faded out of existence. In actual fact you were simply using one of your powers to bend the waves of visible light in such a way that none of them came into contact with you. The ability to fly over the wall is only useful when you aren’t going to get shot out of the sky for trying. You walk up to the foot of the wall and begin your ascent. Just as you land on the top of the wall, the gate swings open and several vehicles just like the ones transporting you come hurtling out. Probably backup that the surviving humans had called in (You’re a little l8 guys :::; )  ). 

Beyond The wall is some sort of massive human settlement. Most of the buildings that you can see are really tall, many of them even taller than the wall. You wonder how many of them are hives. Maybe this is some sort of human highblood settlement. Wait no; they all have the same blood. Bluuuuuuuuh humans are confusing.

Pushing these thoughts aside, you fly down from the wall and begin looking for a place to hide.

***

It takes you almost your entire two hour period to find a good spot. There were a few other candidates, but there was always a sort of instinctual urge holding you back. This time is the opposite. Instinct is telling you yes, common sense is telling you no. I mean seriously: there is no way that hiding in a dumpster next to one of these huge hives is not going to result in some derpy human stumbling across you. Common sense has run out of time though. One of these dumpsters will have to do. You can already feel your pulse speeding up.

You climb in, lie down, and wait for your heart to explode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know that trolls call a heart a blood pusher (or something along those lines), but it wouldn’t really have had the same effect, would it?
> 
> Poor Higgs, he was only two days from retirement. One that Droog would arrange for him personally (I’ll leave the rest to your imagination).
> 
> The next chapter’s all but done so I can upload it next time I get access to the internet. So you can expect another update soon : )


	10. Pantheon research notes - Lycazone

Pantheon research notes - Lycazone

Creator: Blanca Quist

Chemical formula: CLASSIFIED (A Rank approval or higher required)

Manufacturing process: CLASSIFIED (A Rank approval or higher required)

Effects: Anesthetic of decent strength. Withdrawal symptoms will cause fibrillation at such an accelerated rate that the heart will eventually rupture and cause a painful death if another dose of equal or greater size is not taken. Time period before a dose is required differs between trolls of different blood castes and humans (list of time periods is provided below). Dangerous in that the subject never feels any addiction to the substance, and so feels no physical drive to obtain another dose until the fibrillation begins. When used on pantheon subjects their speed of regeneration from injuries slows by more than 500% of the initial rate.

Required time between doses (by caste) approx:  
• Fuchsia (mutant): Unknown, no mortal subjects of this particular caste have ever been obtained. However for Witch the symptoms manifest after thirty minutes.  
• Violet and other similar shades: One hour.  
• Purple and other similar shades: Fifteen minutes.  
• Indigo and other similar shades: One hour  
• Cobalt and other similar shades: Two hours  
• Teal and other similar shades: Two hours  
• Jade and other similar shades: Three hours  
• Olive and other similar shades: Two hours  
• Yellow and other similar shades: Four hours  
• Brown and other similar shades: Five hours  
• Rust and other similar shades: Six hours  
• Red (mutant): Unknown. To our knowledge the only troll in existance with this particular shade of blood is Knight. Knight has proven immune to lycazone entirely. If another mutant red does exist then his/her capture is of top priority as by studying another of that caste we may gain knowledge of how to better control Knight.  
• Human: Five hours 

Usage in Pantheon: The extreme withdrawal symptoms have been implemented into containing the subjects. The Debilitation collar (see Pantheon research notes - Debilitation collar, for details) contains a small tank of lycazone. Once every five minutes the collar releases a small amount of the chemical into the bloodstream via needles piercing the neck. The dosage is too small to actually cause the anesthetic effect, but enough that the withdrawal symptoms are guaranteed to occur should the collar be removed. Until the withdrawal has occurred personnel should endeavour to keep the subject contained, but keep their distance in order to prevent unnecessary loss of life. Once the subject’s heart has ruptured it will be incapacitated for anything between three to five days, and will be unable to function at full capacity for approximately one month. Subjects must be kept unaware of the presence of the chemical wherever possible, but it also should be noted that seer knowing about its existence is an inevitability (see Pantheon research notes - Seer for details).

Show related journal entries? Y/N

N

\--No other results--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An explanation of how the chemical in the collar works, as I'm sure you guys were wondering.
> 
> While in troll society Fuchsia blood is accepted on account of it being the blood colour of their leader, it is viewed as a mutation in this society on account of its rarity (just a more common mutation than Karkat's blood).


	11. 27/06/1999

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reccomend reading this chapter and other chapters like this one while listening to either the midnight crew accapella, white host green room from the seventh homestuck album, or some other smooth jazz.

It is currently the twenty seventh of June in the year nineteen ninety nine

Diamonds Droog, co-leader of a local organised crime ring, sits alone in his office. He takes a large drag on a high-quality cigarette and if you were being him then you would know that he is currently lamenting the uselessness of the majority of his underlings. However you are not being him right now and so you will have to rely on me, the all powerful and devilishly handsome author of this fine fic, to explain his current thoughts to you. Right now he is also musing on the fact that your partner, despite his psychotically sadistic tendencies somehow still manages to be the only one capable of getting anything done.

Apparently finished with the cigarette he dunks it into the ashtray and begins booting up his PC, fully intending to visit one of his favourite “relaxation” websites. Before he can start up the internet an unfamiliar application suddenly pops up. He vaguely recognises it as being a newly released instant messaging service. He never bothered with stuff like that on account of face to face conversations being much harder, and more dangerous, for third parties to monitor. In fact he doesn’t even remember installing it. The application is showing that there is a new message, but he doesn’t see anything like that. It takes him a few minutes of futilely trying to close down the application until he realises that he needs to highlight the text for it to become visible. I’m sure that you are all dying to know what the contents of the following conversation are and I am only too happy to oblige, as what kind of a story would this be if I did not reveal the relevant details.

Greetings Mr Droog.   
DD: Who are you, How do you know me, what do you want, and why the fuck are you writing in that god-awful colour?   
I like it when my correspondents get straight to the point.   
My name is Doctor Scratch.   
I know you because I know everything.   
I have a business proposition for you, and I am writing in this colour simply because I want to.   
DD: If you want to make any kind of deal with me then you will have to come and meet me face to face.   
DD: And I also really doubt your second statement.   
I’m afraid meeting face to face, in the most literal sense, is impossible for me.   
The less literal interpretation is also quite inconvenient for me.   
I am sorry to say this, but you will have to put up with this method of conversation.   
DD: Alright fine  
DD: What kind of business proposition.  
I am going to make you the most powerful human on your planet.   
All you need to do is follow all the instructions I give you over the next few years.   
DD: Wow  
DD: I am insulted if you think that I am stupid enough to agree to something like that.   
I know for a fact that you are far from stupid.   
You are simply not yet desperate enough to agree to this deal.   
I am only contacting you now so you have time to think over my proposal.   
DD: What do you mean I’m not yet desperate enough?   
DD: Are you threatening me?   
You will see soon enough.   
I will contact you again in one week.   
Goodbye Mr Droog.   
DD: WAIT  
DD: You still there?   
DD: Damn


	12. Define: Hemo-Arena

####  **Hemo-Arena**

Without any regulation from a legal system, trolls typically sort out their disputes through physical means. After viewing a fairly interesting scenario when a yellowblood managed to get the better of a cobalt, a particularly enterprising oliveblood had the idea of arranging bets on the outcome of other such fights. This worked fairly well for him up until he got dismembered by angry losers.

His idea caught on despite this unfortunate incident, and soon "Hemo-Arenas" were a feature of most trollslums, where, aside from the purpose of having a wide open space to settle who gets the top bunk, tournaments and other such events were held. As time went on humans also began to see the appeal of watching trolls tear each other apart, as opposed to typical combat sports which had become more limited by safety restrictions over the years. Eventually some of the braver (or stupider) humans began to sign themselves up to the occasional match, but the number of these individuals who were met with success can be counted on your fingers, with only one having never suffered defeat.

 

There are rumours of an underground Hemo-Arena, where rich and famous humans gather to watch trolls who have been subject to horrific experiments fight to the death. It is also said that in that arena there fights a troll who, despite being visibly unmodified, is so monstrously strong that the only way to make a profit is to not bet on who will win, but how long the newcomer will survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short world building chapter. I'm sorry about the lack of an actual update (the steam sale has nuked my productivity pretty badly).
> 
> Option one has won a fairly crushing victory and I will get to writing that ASAP.
> 
> Thank you for your patience.


	13. Troll first aid

==> Be John  
“Alright John, last chance. You admit that this was just another one of your elaborate pranks and tell me how the fuck you managed to find out my locker code and this doesn’t have to go any further.”  


“Dave, I’m telling the truth, it wasn’t me for once.”  


Your name is John Egbert. You are currently standing in the alleyway next to your house alongside your best friend Dave Strider. It seems that Dave received an anonymous letter inside his locker claiming that there is going to be a troll inside one of the dumpsters located in said alleyway. He thinks that it is another one of your pranks, but for a change it genuinely isn’t. You decided to commit to a truce when he bribed his brother to flood your inbox with large amounts of smuppet pornography after the infamous “locker 412 incident”.  


“Yeah, sure.” Dave said in his typical ironically deadpan voice. “Its always not you right up until the point when I end up with a face full of a certain dairy product that all of you pranksters seem to have a fetish for. What is it with you guys and whipped cream anyway?”  


“Its cheap, doesn’t leave a bad taste in your mouth, is readily available at most stores, and isn’t as insanely flammable as shaving foam.” Unfortunately you know that last one from experience.  


“That actually makes a surprisingly large amount of sense.”  


“Yeah, it does. Can you give me a boost?”  


The dumpsters are pretty tall, but with Dave’s help you’re able to climb in fairly easily. You can’t see anything in this one. While keeping clear of the garbage chute above, you root around as much as you can without getting covered in grime, just to be sure.  


“This one’s empty of any trolls.” You say to Dave as you jump down. “Let’s check the other ones though, just to be sure."  


He gives a small nod and prepares to give you a leg up to the next one. You climb in and...

“Oh...”

At this Dave jumps up after you. “Don’t tell me there’s actually a... well fuck me...” 

For almost a minute the two of you just stare at her, struck dumb, not so much by the fact that the letter that Dave had received told the truth, as by the extent of the girls injuries. The skin on the whole of her chest seems to have somehow melted, and the smell of blood in the air is strong. You see this kind of thing in movies all the time, but in real life its... is that a rib? No, it isn't. She's thin enough that you can make out her ribs against her skin though, which isn't much better.

You tear your eyes away from her injuries and instead look at her face. She's young, about your age. If anything that makes it even more unsettling. Its strange, seeing a troll like this. They always seem so different from humans on the news or on the internet, but if not for the large quantities of cerulean blood you might have mistaken her for a normal girl wearing a lot of face paint. 

Dave broke the silence first. "I know trolls are tough, but how the hell is she still breathing?"

You were too preoccupied being freaked out by her injuries to notice the steady rise and fall of her chest that indicated her continued existence in the land of the living.

"We should get her to a hospital." you say quickly.

"John I somehow doubt that any trolls we find in dumpsters are going to be licensed"

"What are we going to do then, it's not as if we can deal with this kind of thing ourselves!" you say, surprisingly calmly given the situation (Dave is probably starting to rub off on you)

"We can't, Bro can."

You mentally kick yourself for forgetting. Dirk is a regular fighter in the Hemo-Arena out in the slums. Stands to reason that he knows a thing or two about quickly patching up otherwise serious injuries.

"Lets get her inside then, before anyone sees." You say. It will probably be awkward if someone finds you here.

It's difficult to get her out of the dumpster without causing further damage, but you and Dave manage together. Dave has to hold her on his own when you get to the elevator, as you need a free hand to place on the scanner. Once it has been confirmed that your fingerprints belong to a resident of the building the elevator begins to descend. During the short wait you quickly glance around the street to see if anyone was watching (even though you probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it if they were). At the very least, you can't see anyone else right now. You guess that lady luck might be on your side for the moment. The elevator doors ding open. You wince slightly, as you step inside the lift. Confined spaces make you feel slightly uncomfortable for some unknown reason. It never seems as if there's enough air inside every time you use it.

Dave noticed your discomfort. "At least your apartment doesn't still have stairs." he mutters.

You shrug. "If you don't want your place I'll happily take that over the elevator any day."

"What. John, no. Haven't I told you about the stairs."

"You warned me dog." You reply, completing the obligatory reference. "But elevators are worse. Having an escalator would be pretty good too."

"Escalators are just stairs that move and are therefore ten times worse." Dave concludes just as the elevator opens up to your apartment. "Should I just put her on the sofa or..."

"Put her on my bed." You say as you step in to the apartment. "I'll call Dirk."

Dave nods and carries the girl off in the direction of your room.

As you make your way towards the phone you can't help but take note of the absence of the strong smells of baked goods and pipe tobacco that you had come to associate with home. Your father has been gone on a business trip abroad for a few days now. Dirk has been keeping an eye out for you in the meantime. You wonder if maybe you should call your father and tell him what's happening. Probably a bad idea. He'd want to come home right away, which, judging from how important this trip sounded, probably would be anything but a good thing.

You pick up the phone receiver and hit the speed dial button. After two rings your call is answered and a weary voice comes through on the other end.

"John didn't I say not to call before 10am unless the house was burning down. Can I hear the dying screams of the other tenants as they painfully burn to death? No I cannot."

"Yeah... I probably wouldn't be calling you on the landline if the house was burning down anyway..." You reply. "But it is an emergency." you add quickly.  
"Life or death emergency or 'I can't get the lid off the pickle jar emergency'?"

"Life or death." You say, not actually sure which option he would take as being more severe.

"Right, I'll be over in ten, leave a window open."

You quickly put the phone down and dash to the nearest window. When a Strider says that he'll be over in ten he doesn't mean minutes.

Sure enough, mere moments after you step back from the window, Strider senior vaults through.

"Alright John what's the..." he stops mid-sentence, having noticed the blue stains on your shirt. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that that's not blueberry jam."

You slowly shake your head. "Dave put her in my room."

With a curt nod Dirk seems to flicker out of existence. You make your way over to your room, where Dirk has begun examining the girls injuries, while Dave is explaining the situation.

"...so yeah this letter basically was what told us to look in the dumpster." Dave explained to his bro. "Even somehow said the exact time we'd find her." 

"In that case we can put a certain bowtied motherfucker on our suspect list." Dirk muttered. He turns to face you. "John where does your dad keep the first aid stuff?"

"Everything should be in the cupboard above the bathroom sink."

Once again Dirk vanishes, reappearing an instant later holding he required supplies, alongside a white bed sheet. He puts the stuff from the cupboard down on the floor before pulling his 'unbreakable' katana (a claim that Dave has been trying to disprove for YEARS) and quickly shreds the sheet into long strips.

"There weren't enough bandages." He said in response to the unasked question. "I'll replace it, although I doubt that your old man would mind in this situation."

With that, he began cleaning and bandaging her wounds with the kind of speed and precision that can only be achieved by surgeons and master swordsmen. "Any idea who could have sent the note?"

At this Dave seemed to cringe slightly. "No... Yeah, but its not what its gonna sound like."

You raise an eyebrow, if it was weird enough to make Dave show any expression then it must be interesting. Dirk seemed to be thinking the same thing as he motioned for Dave to continue.

"Okay, so, after John's last prank, I've been keeping my locker address from everyone, so I should've been the only one who could get in to it, and also the letter called you Bro, not Dirk."

"Kinda sounds like you did it." you muse.

"Fuck no. I mean... yeah it looks bad considering it was in my handwriting too, but I really had nothing to do with this."

"Maybe it was your evil twin." Dirk offered. "Or you might suddenly develop time travel powers in the near future."

"Hell fucking yes. Between Dave Strider the time warrior and his derpy-but-loyal sidekick John, no rogue AI seeking the end of humanity stands a chance."

"I'm not gonna be your sidekick Dave." You respond indignantly.

"Sidepunch then."

"That pun was beyond awful."

"I've got to come up with material for the next SBAHJ somehow."

"Right then." Dirk says as he finishes up tying the last bandage. "Its obviously not you Dave, but probably someone who knows you pretty well. Or maybe someone who knows me." He stands up and begins walking towards the door, normal speed for a change. "I'm going to poke around the area, whoever dropped her off might still be near, in the meantime..." He turns to face you. "John I'm happy to keep her at my place while she recovers, but moving her could attract some attention of the worst kind, so would you be ok with keeping her here, at least until she wakes up."

You look over to the girl again. You've heard a lot about how dangerous trolls can be. About how many of them would rip out your throat on a whim. You don't see that in her. You just see someone who is hurt and vulnerable, someone who needs your help. And in your mind, that's all that matters.

"Yeah, she can stay." You say with a nod. After all: what's the worst that could happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the reason why this chapter was delayed for so long was because I was worried about messing up characterization, so if you see any problems with how I handle any of the characters PLEASE let me know. I am always open to feedback.


	14. Be the mysterious watchers

**"See, didn't I tell you Bro would come through for us."**

_"I did, kind of expect him to turn her in. I guess I misjudged him, sorry."_

**"Nah, its cool. I mean, you're kind of right to be suspicious of people, especially after what you've been through. The fact that you didn't go straight into murder mode right after you got out is kind of all I could've asked for."**

_"I might have done that if I was still a robot."_

**"Wait, what?"**

_"Long story, and we don't really have time for anything like that right now. We have no idea when the timeline is going to decide to get rid of you."_

**"Shit, yeah. What should I do about that."**

_"I'm not really sure, but I think that if you refrain from interacting with your past self any more than you already have done it might extend the amount of time you have left."_

**"But sooner or later I'm screwed, right?"**

_"Pretty much."_

**"Well shit."**

_"I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this. Death is a new beginning, not the end. Its something to be celebrated. When this is all over I'll make sure to have a big corpse party in your honour."_

**"I'm not really sure whether to be creeped out or flattered."**

_"Maybe both."_

**"Sure let's go with that. But anyway, I'll probably try to bust out another one of your friends. Even if I fail then at least I tried to make my doomed ass useful for something. What's your plan?"**

_"I'll stay here and keep an eye on things. Just in case Vriska starts acting up when she wakes."_

**"Didn't you tell me that she wouldn't do anything like that."**

_"Vriska can be a little... unstable, but she's not stupid. Once she sees that you three intend to help her, she won't do anything rash. Better safe than sorry though. Also I might need to help if Pantheon manages to track her down, or when they find out what you and your friends are."_

**"Makes sense. So I guess this is goodbye then, at least... for this version of me it is."**

_"Good luck."_

**"Thanks, I'm gonna need it."**


	15. The Seer knows all

Jack Noir was in a foul mood.

Granted he was almost always in a foul mood, but today was particularly bad. Not only had one of his most loyal subordinates been killed in Thief's escape (something that provoked irritation similar to what we would feel when breaks your TV remote), but now Droog had dragged him into the deepest depths of the Clubs institute of biotechnological and psychological research, which meant that he was going to need a new pair of shoes.

"Remind me, why the hell are we doing this?" He muttered irritably to his partner.

"We own an almost perfect method of surveillance, and you are wondering why we are going to use it." Droog responded in a bemused tone.

"Yeah I get that much, but why the hell do I have to stand and watch you use the damn thing!"

"You're free to wait outside the room if you wish." Droog stated matter-of-factly. His face broke into a sinister smile. "Of course that means that there won't be anything to ensure that your privacy will be respected."

"...You motherfucker."

They soon reached their destination, a large door made from an alloy that neither of them could be bothered to learn the name of. Droog stepped forward and positioned his eye over the retinal scanner. The door slid open, and Jack shuddered involuntarily at the contents. He had seen some messed up things in his life (having been the direct cause of most of them), but the so called 'pilot's seats' took the cake by a nautical mile.

The room was filled by hundreds of thick fleshy tendrils, pulsing irregularly. Towards the middle of the room the tendrils formed into three large columns. In the centre of each column three young trolls were held suspended by the tendrils. Jack glanced down at the floor, which was obscured by the thick, dark fluid that sustained the strange lifeform that kept the three in stasis. A single scientist frantically typing on a computer built into one of the columns.

They stepped into the room, the liquid rising up to their ankles. "Is everything ready Miss Lalonde?" Droog asked the scientist.

She visibly jumped, clearly having not noticed their entry. "Oh, uh... Hey boss, I didn't expect you to get here so erely (*early)." She turned back to the console. "Just gimme another sec, I'm almost done."

Droog chose to ignore her obvious drunkenness. "Has the condition of the three subjects changed at all since Thief's escape?"

"Noep (*nope), all normal. Rogue has been dreaming for the past three days, a good one judging from the endorphins she is releasing, Sylph's still in a constant state of exhaustion, but there ain't anything I can do bout that, and Seer's mind is still the same clusterfcuk (*fuck) of thought that it always is."

"Can you hurry the fuck up." Jack growled. "I need to change my goddamn socks!"

"Almoooost.....done!" She declared. Stepping back from the console she once again turned to face Droog. "Information extraction is going to start as soon as you ask her the first question. You might want to ask a few test questions before you start asking the real ones since I wasn't able to test if things are working as they should. Or you could decide not to, after all I'm not your mom."

"You didn't test it, why not?" Jack asked.

Roxy rolled her eyes. "If it was easy to get inside Seer's head then we'd be doing it a heck of a lot more often. Pilot seats aren't meant for the higher part of the homospectrum (*close enough). Seer is only just low enough for us to be able to keep her asleep, but anything more is... expensive."

"How expensive are we talking?"

"Enough to fund an off planet colony for half a year." Droog said with a hint of melancholy, lamenting how many liquorice Swedish fish that could have been bought for that amount of cash.

Droog stepped up to Seer's column and looked up at her comatose face. If she were just slightly lower on the hemospectrum then she would have been his greatest acquisition on that day. Her powers combined with the pilot seat would have allowed him to monitor every thought of every single sentient being on the planet, with the unfortunate exception of the subjects themselves. Pantheon had near unlimited funding, but the expense of artificially increasing Seer's compatibility with the pilot seat was pushing it.

He types out a quick test question to make sure everything is working correctly.  What is Daniel Droog's favourite colour? 

There is a moments pause before the answer comes up. 

Red yellow yellow green blue red grey gold red red blue white black blue pink. 

Droog cursed under his breath. It appeared that Seer had given the answer for every Daniel Droog on the planet. Getting the programmers to remove Seer's ability to influence the answers had been a necessity for the system, but it also meant that he needed to be extremely specific.  What is the favourite colour of the Daniel Droog currently located inside the vault containing the Pantheon subject known as Seer? 

This time the answer appears almost instantly:  grey 

Droog smiled, it appeared that everything was working correctly. He typed in another question, this time a proper one.  Who planned the attack on the Pantheon convoy escorting Thief to this location four days ago? Droog knew that the actual attackers had all been eliminated in the firefight, but the mastermind may still be alive. He wasn't disappointed.  areana serket 

A rather unfortunate revelation. Mindfang had been eluding the authorities for years, and Droog had no doubt that she would be able to continue doing so. Focusing on Thief's capture was the more immediate concern anyway.

Why did Areana Serket arrange on an attack on the pantheon convoy transporting Thief? 

chemical weaponry 

It looked like even the great Mindfang was gullible enough to fall for the rumors. If Thief's freedom wasn't the intention of the attack then there probably wouldn't be any more interference from her, at least not in this particular matter.

Has anyone seen Pantheon subject Thief in person in the past seventy two hours? 

This time the answer took quite a long time to appear.  no 

Droog scowled. No one saw her in three days? That was unlikely, even if she found she found a good hiding place to resurrect. Perhaps if she hid in the old subway system... no, almost all of the lusii that swarmed it are intelligent enough for Seer to be able to read them.

Of course there was still one more possibility.

Droog steps back from the console and begins to walk towards the door. "We're leaving Slick."

"Already?" Roxy exclaimed in surprise. "Does that mean you found her?"

"I know that Mindfang arranged the attack, and that she didn't intend to free Thief. If no mortals are helping her then we will simply have to track her down the hard way."

"Are you seriously telling me that this whole thing was pointless?" Jack growled, barely restraining his fury.

"Seer not detecting anyone does not necessarily mean that there is no one helping her, and since we are dealing with the goddess of luck I think we can assume the worst case scenario."

Jack's anger vanished immediately. "So you think... its the four?"

"Yes."

"Oh this is going to be so much fun..." Jack murmured in quiet excitement.

"Who the heck are the four?" Roxy asked. "I mean if there are guys who Seer can't see (*observe, watch, ocean, anything but that lameass alliteration I just did), then I might've have been able to do something about that."

"That is none of your concern." Droog declared irritably. "Just make sure that Seer is ready for when I need her again."

"Uuuuuh... about that... we've run out of protatcininum (*not even gonna try), we aren't going to be able to get Seer working again for at least a month."

"Oh you've got to be fucking.... We might have to go public at this raGYAAAK"

Jack, having grown tired of the whole affair grabbed Droog by the collar and began dragging him towards the door. "Love to stay and chat Lalonde, but I've got better things to do than stand in this goddamn septic tank. Just make sure that we only have to deal with one angry God running free, and I won't come back and discuss retirement plans."

"Y-yeah sure." Roxy stammered back, as the door slid shut behind them.

***

"What the FUCK Slick!" Droog yelled once out in the corridor. Or he would have if he weren't still struggling to get a full lungful of air. "I wasn't finished talking."

"Calm down, I just wanted to ask you something in private."

"It couldn't wait?"

Jack brought out a large knife, one of many that he carried on his person, and began casually polishing it while talking. "Its just that you've been talking a hell of a lot about finding Thief, but I haven't heard anything about catching her. Unless you've got a better plan, I have an idea that I want to try."

A shiver ran down Droog's spine. Jack was usually someone who acted before he thought. On the rare occasions when he was faced with a problem that forced him too stop and think things through Droog inevitably had to deal with a large pile of corpses. "Whatever your idea is I don't want to hear it after the last one. Another huge cover-up is the last thing I need."

"Droog, we've been doing this sort of thing for a long time, and we both know that I'm going to go through with this idea of mine with or without your permission, so will you cut the crap and let me go through with it without delaying things further."

Droog sighed in resignation. "Does it involve nuking the city or something that may end up with a similar bodycount?"

"No, and possibly."

"Will I regret ever discussing it with you in the first place?"

"You will."

"Will it solve our problem?"

Jack smiled an almost unnaturally wide smile. "Droog, before the end of the month we are going to have killed a God."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the massive delay. A combination of real life, laziness, being unsatisfied with my ability to write in second person, and updates that completely changed my opinion on a certain clown, all meant that I didn't have a decent chapter prepared until now. Hopefully I'll start getting myself back into gear and updating more than once every several months. In any case thank you to any readers who have managed to retain interest all this time.


	16. The four

ok they've gone

Y34H 1 KNOW

C4N YOU HURRY UP 4ND CH4NG3 MY T3XT COLOUR B4CK TO NORM4L

TH1S 1S M4K1NG M3 UNCOMFORT4BL3

oops sorry

this better?

TH4NKS 

1 JUST DON'T F33L COMFORT4BL3 UNL3SS 1TS T34L >:[

i know rite

but anyways

how'd it go?

B3TT3R TH4N 1 HOP3D

NOT 4S GOOD 4S 1T COULD H4V3 GON3 THOUGH

care to elaboraet?

*elaobrate

*whatever

H3 4SK3D M3 1F 4NYON3 H4D S33N VR1SK4 

1 COULDN'T JUST S3ND H1M 4FT3R SOM3 R4NDOM GUY B3C4US3 H3'D F1GUR3 TH4T OUT PR3TTY QU1CKLY 

SO 1 TOLD H1M TH4T NO ON3 H4D S33N H3R 

BUT FROM TH4T H3 W4S 4BL3 TO F1GUR3 OUT WHO H4D FOUND H3R 

ok now i'm confused

YOU KNOW TH4T 1 C4N S33 1NTO 3V3RYON3S M1ND 3XC3PT FOR OTH3R GODS 

obvously

*obviously

they told me about that as soon as they moved me in to look after you

what about it?

YOU DON'T KNOW TH4T SOM3 P3OPL3 4R3 MOR3 R3S1ST4NT TO MY S1GHT TH4N OTH3RS 

ok yeah that's new

tho i guess it makes sense

like some people have resistance against troll's psycic powers

*psychic

1TS NOT QU1T3 L1K3 TH4T 

R3S1ST4NC3 TO M1ND CONTROL COM3S FROM YOUR OWN W1LLPOW3R 

TH3S3 P3OPL3 4R3 BORN W1TH TH31R R3S1ST4NC3, 4ND 1T ST4YS CONST4NT THROUGHOUT TH31R L1V3S 

TH1S ONLY R34LLY M4K3S 1T 34S13R FOR M3 TO BLOCK TH3M OUT 

1 C4N ST1LL S33 TH31R THOUGHTS 1F 1 TRY 

BUT TH3R3 4R3 FOUR P3OPL3 TH4T 1 C4N'T S33 4T 4LL 

are these the four that droog mentioned?

Y3S

so they're the ones that found thief

sorry i mean vriska : (

3X4CTLY 

1 WOULDN'T 3V3N KNOW 4BOUT TH3M 1F 1 COULDN'T S33 TH3M THROUGH OTH3R P3OPL3'S 3Y3S 

DROOG 1S T3RR1F13D OF TH3M

why?

B3C4US3 TH3Y'R3 GODS 

JUST L1K3 M3 4ND TH3 OTH3RS 

SERIOUSLY? :o

Y34H

that's grate

*great

its going to be a lot easier to get you out of here with their help

1 W1SH 1T W4S TH4T S1MPL3 >:[ 

1F WH4T MR V4N1LL4 M1LKSH4K3 S41D TO DROOG 1S TRU3 TH3N TH3Y 4R3 D3V3LOP1NG TH31R POW3RS N4TUR4LLY, BUT NOT N34RLY 4S QU1CKLY 4S TH3Y WOULD W1TH TH3 G4M3S H3LP 

mr vanilla milkshake?

LONG STORY 

1N 4NY C4S3 THOS3 GUYS PROB4BLY DON'T KNOW TH4T TH3Y'R3 SP3C14L Y3T 

TH4NKFULLY YOUR BOSS3S DO3SN'T KNOW 4NYTH1NG 4BOUT TH3M 4S1D3 FROM TH3 F4CT TH4T TH3Y'R3 HUM4N 

BUT TH4T ST1LL M34NS TH4T H3 KNOWS TH4T SH3'S PROB4BLY H1D1NG SOM3WH3R3 1N C3TUS, 4ND NOT OUT 1N TH3 SLUMS 

4ND TH4T'S ST1LL NOT 3V3N TH3 WORST OF 1T 

do I even want to know? : (

YOU'LL JUST 3ND UP WORRY1NG 4BOUT 1T MOR3 1F 1 DON'T T3LL YOU 

you're probably right 

ok shoot

VR1SK4 W4S NOT 3X4CTLY ST4BL3, 3V3N B4CK ON 4LT3RN14

SH3 D1D SOM3 PR3TTY B4D STUFF 

4ND TH4T W4S B3FOR3 TWO C3NTUR13S OF FUCK3D UP M3D1C4L 3XP3R1M3NTS 

WH3N SH3 W4K3S UP SH3 1S GO1NG TO B3 P1SS3D, 4T TH3 V3RY L34ST!!!

1'M WORR13D TH4T SH3'LL DO SOM3TH1NG TH4T SH3'LL R3GR3T 

OR WORS3 

SOM3TH1NG TH4T SH3 WON'T 

oh : (

i didn't really think about what the others would be like

are there any other crazy ones i should be worried about

NO

1 M34N W3'R3 4LL CR4ZY 1N SOM3 W4Y OR 4NOTH3R

BUT TH3R3'S NO PO1NT 1N YOU WORRY1NG 4BOUT 1T 

1'LL M4K3 TH3M S33 R34SON SOM3HOW 

ok fair enough

i wish that there was more that i could do to help

4R3 YOU K1DD1NG!

W1THOUT YOU 1 WOULD H4V3 TOLD TH3M 3V3RYTH1NG

i know

it still feels like i coulf be doing more

*could

maybe if you tell me where these other gods are i could go and help them out

explain the situation to vris when she wakes up or somethin

you do know where they are rite?

Y34H 1 DO, BUT 1T WOULD B3 4 B4D 1D34 1F YOU KN3W WH3R3, OR WHO, TH3Y 4R3 

oh yeah

the bosses probly have somone waching me

*someine

*someone

*watching

TH3Y DO

TH3R3 4R3 4 COUPL3 OF OTH3R R34SONS 4S W3LL, BUT L3TS NOT GO 1NTO THOS3 

TH3R3 1S ON3 TH1NG YOU C4N DO THOUGH 

SOM3TH1NG R34LLY 1MPORT4NT 

what is it?????

K33P YOURS3LF 4ND ROS3 S4F3 

OK?

obviously i'm going to keep Rosie safe

you don't need to tell me that : )

>:]

anyways i g2g

if i spend any more ytime in here i'll probably get in trouble

*time

Y34H G3ORG3 1S G3TT1NG PR3TTY P1SS3D 

YOU W3R3 M34NT TO H3LP H1M CONF1GUR3 TH3 N3W 3D PR1NT3R TOD4Y 

oh fuck i forgot about that

see you tomorroe then

*tomorrow

\--USER DISCONNECTED FROM CONSOLE #2-- 

VR1SK4

JUST TH1S ONC3

DON'T DO 4NYTH1NG STUP1D 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the gap between updates, I had mock exams.
> 
> I took down the pantheon research notes Knight as the version I had uploaded was pretty unfinished. I will re-upload it when it is a) better, and b)more relevant.
> 
> Some of Roxy's mistakes were genuine typos that I just decided to run with, can you guess which ones? : P


	17. Pantheon research notes: Seer

Pantheon subject research notes #7

Subject identification: Seer

Gender: Female

Blood colour: Teal

Height: 172 centimetres

Weight (maximum): 59 kilograms

Defining features:  
· Sharp, pointed horns  
· Extremely sharp teeth

Holding facility: Clubs institute of biotechnological and psychological research

Assignment: Worldwide surveillance

Notable abilities:  
· Abnormal physical strength  
· Unlimited regenerative ability  
· Telepathy  
· Slight control over physical form (unconfirmed)

Containment procedures:  
· Vault door to be sealed at all times, only select personnel to enter on any occasion  
· Seer is under no circumstances to be removed from Pilot's Seat  
· The mental limiters preventing it from interfering with the software are not to be removed save during security updates  
· Seer is under no circumstances to be communicated with

Show related journal entries? Y/N

Y

4233 results found

Narrow down to most relevant? Y/N

Y

Related journal entries:

Entry date: 05/10/2009

I am told that subject Seer is showing signs of recovering from her "episode". Whether or not this is a good thing depends on how cooperative she intends to be. If she is anything like her companions, not very.

Entry date: 13/01/2010

Seer spoke to her guards today. She asked to speak to me in person. Which is impressive considering she shouldn't know my name, or the fact that I'm the one responsible for her capture.

I'm just going to have to get used to this kind of weird shit, aren't I?

Entry date: 15/01/2010

My meeting with Seer went about as well as you can expect a meeting with a psychic to go. I learned a few things, her name (Terezi Pyrope), and some details about her species (apparently named Trolls, further proof that the universe is fucking with me), but all in all she probably got more out of me, way more.

I couldn't help but admire her ability to talk for ages without actually saying anything. In other circumstances, I would love to have her as my lawyer.

Entry date: 17/02/2014

I had no idea that it was actually possible to have hired someone stupid enough to not lock the door to Seer's cell, but it happened. Can't even take my frustration out on the bastard, since he got killed during her escape attempt. She almost made it too. She already knew all of the security codes so once out of her cell she was able to get through almost all of the other checkpoints. 

The thing that really gets me though is that this was her first attempt at an escape, and she got closer to doing it than any of the other subjects have so far. We're going to have to find a way to deal with her quickly, or this is all going to unravel.

Entry date: 23/07/2014

I just got a memo saying that some of the staff are planning to graft Seer into a pilots seat. The idea of having what is basically a mind reading computer is exciting, and it would eliminate any chances of her escaping. Even so, I doubt things are going to work out quite so neatly.

Entry date: 24/07/2014

Looks like I was right about the pilots seat, big fucking surprise. Aside from a couple of injuries that occurred once Seer realized what they were up to, hooking her up to the seat went by without any major problems. However her blood is just slightly too high up the spectrum for us to be able to extract any information from her brain. There is a way to get the seat to work with her, but it somehow manages to be outside even my price range.

Thankfully Seer isn't quite high enough for the "seat" to be unable to keep her in stasis, which means that I won't have to worry about any more escape attempts on her part.

Entry date: 08/06/2103

I'm told that if we run some conductors connected to Seer's pilots seat through the accelway it'll increase her range globally, just like with Sylph. Still costs too much to use her on a regular basis, but at least then she'll be useful.

Entry date: 26/09/2124

Finally got to use Seer. It works well enough, but its annoying how specific the questions that I asked had to be.

I only really myself see myself using it when I need to dig up some new blackmail material on election years.

Entry date: 12/12/2265

The idiot in charge of Seer tried to use her, thinking someone wouldn't notice. Slick dealt with him personally. His replacement will be someone named Roxy Lalonde. From what I hear, she goes through most days of the week halfway to being wasted, and still manages to be one of the smartest people on the planet. That is something that even I have got to respect.

\--no other results--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More than one chapter posted within a month? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS

**Author's Note:**

> If you want any updates on this fic then please follow my tumblr http://mzingalwa.tumblr.com/
> 
> I am always happy to answer any questions that you may have about the AU
> 
> Comments, kudos, and constructive criticism are all appreciated.
> 
> Thank you for reading : D


End file.
